TV actor Mike Minor has died

James L. Neibaur

Racine Film Examiner

January 29, 201611:07 PM MST

internet photo

Mike Minor, best remembered as Steve Eliot on the “Petticoat Junction” TV series has died. He was 75 years old.

Mike Minor always longed for a career in professional baseball (there is currently a major league player named Mike Minor, who is no relation to the actor), but his natural athletic ability was accompanied by a fine singing voice. He began taking voice lessons at 10 and was already signing in clubs as a teenager.

His character of Steve Eliot was on “Petticoat Junction” over four seasons, marrying Betty Jo Bradley (Linda Kaye Henning) and having the child Kathy Jo as the series continued. However, the rumor that Minor sang the show’s title song is false (it was sung by composer Curt Massey).

During his time on the series, he released two albums and several singles, and appeared with Ozzie and Harriet Nelson on stage in “The Impossible Years.”

When “Petticoat Junction” left the air in 1970, Minor worked in daytime drama, appearing on “The Edge of Night,” “As The World Turns,” “Another World,” and “All My Children.” His last TV acting appearance was on a 1993 episode of L.A. Law. In 1999, Minor performed on Broadway as Inspector James Ascher in "A Perfect Crime."

Mike Minor’s athletic prowess never landed him a pro baseball contract, but he did excel in golf as he got older. He was a member of the Hollywood Hackers.

Minor was born Michael Fedderson, and was the son of television producer Don Fedderson, best known for the “My Three Sons” TV series. His late younger brother, Gregg Fedderson, was also an act. Minor was married Linda Kaye Henning in real life for five years, but they had no children. He has a son from a former marriage.

Mike Minor died of cancer on Monday January 25, 2016.

Tori Kelly, Patti LaBelle + Diddy Join ‘The Voice’ Season 10

by Ali Szubiak January 29, 2016 12:24 PM

Brian Ach / Bryan Bedder / Kevin Winter, Getty Images

The Voice, a singing competition show that’s maintained its popularity despite failing to produce a true superstar talent in all its airtime, is already headed into its 10th season. A milestone year deserves big name appearances — and the show will be getting just that with this season’s latest musical advisers.

Diddy will be aiding Pharrell Williams mentees, while the legendary Patti LaBelle will help guide those on Christina Aguilera’s team, according to a report from US Weekly. Former American Idol contestant Tori Kelly will advise Adam Levine’s singers and, as someone who’s so far made a name for herself despite losing a singing show competition, she could prove to deliver the most invaluable advice of all.

The upcoming season of The Voice sees a change in the judges panel once again, as Christina Aguilera is set to return to the show after taking a year off. She was replaced by Gwen Stefani last year, who struck up a PDA-heavy romance with fellow The Voice judge Blake Shelton after both of their marriages ended in divorce in 2015.

But for those of you who will miss Stefani and Shelton’s nauseating banter, worry not: Stefani will be on-hand to advise Shelton’s team in the upcoming season.

Tune in to The Voice when it officially returns to NBC on February 29 at 8PM EST.

Will Smith promises some UK shows on his reunion tour with Jazzy Jeff this summertime

"I'm not lying!"

BY MAYER NISSIM

13 HOURS AGO

Will Smith has promised to return to the UK for some live shows when he reunites with Jazzy Jeff on their world tour this summer.

The rapper and producer revealed last October that he and theDJ would be joining forces once more to have the world tour that their Fresh Prince of Bel-Air commitments stopped them having back in the day,

"I've been working on something and this time I'm not lying!" he told The Graham Norton Show.

"We've recorded about 25 songs and have four or five I actually like! Jeff and I will be back here this summer to do shows - real shows."

Back in 2013, Smith and Jeff appeared on The Graham Norton Show together with Will's son Jaden to play the Fresh Princetheme song.

They were then joined by Alfonso Ribeiro, who played Carlton Banks on the show, for a run through a version of Tom Jones's classic and Carlton favourite 'It's Not Unusual'.

The full interview airs tonight (January 29) on The Graham Norton Show at 10.35pm on BBC One.

Martyrs

By Dom Sinacola | January 26, 2016 | 6:22pm

MOVIES | REVIEWS

Pascal Laugier’s 2008 Martyrs is often considered one of the most brutal films ever made. A thoroughly upsetting, immeasurably graphic depiction of human suffering wrought in real time—with something like a half an hour of near-dialogue-less torture—Laugier’s film seems designed to interrogate the audience, to push viewers so far as to wonder aloud what the actual purpose is of witnessing such visceral depravity, simulated or not. Are there any true benefits to obscenity?, it asks, threatening over and over to tip from the grotesque into the pornographic. That in the end the film is left ambiguous is almost an indictment on Laugier’s part, resembling formal experiments like Michael Haneke’s Funny Games: You sat passively through all of that, he chastises. You refused to quit. And for what?

While the American remake of Martyrs shares much of the same plot as its predecessor, gone is the ambiguity and the accusation—and much of the brutality, to be honest. Instead, directed by brothers Kevin and Michael Goetz, the new Martyrs compromises on every level, ultimately coming off as pretty much just a feminine take on The Passion of the Christ. Yes: It is that stupid,that ugly and that pointless.

Troian Bellisario—of Pretty Little Liars fame, in which she is inarguably the best actor on set (better, believe it or not, than even Chad Lowe)—plays Lucy, a woman who as a child escaped an ill-defined traumatic situation to befriend Anna (Bailey Noble as an adult) and learn to operate as a functional human being. When we catch up with the friends 10 years after Lucy escapes, we’re confronted with a picture-perfect middle class family who, upon answering the door one picture-perfect morning, is murdered by Lucy, all grown up and out for revenge. Putting down the shotgun, and done with deliriously crying for a bit, Lucy calls her still-best-friend Anna to confess that she finally found her torturers, and she needs help burying the bodies. Anna arrives, horrified (duh), but still not convinced Lucy found the right family. That is, until she discovers an underground facility and a gang of thugs show up to continue what they began with Lucy 10 years earlier.

What follows would generally fall into the category of “harrowing,” though the American remake neuters much of 2008’s most shocking bits. (And since we can’t really talk about Martyrswithout spoiling it, then heed this warning: Spoilers follow—though there will be nothing in this review to recommend anyone actually watch this thing.) From death via mallet to the aforementioned extended torture sequence, the 2008 Martyrs unflinchingly subverted all audience expectations regarding typical slasher fare, taking tropes and beating them into smithereens. Laugier’s idea, it seemed, was to literally strip away (care of some gruesome scenes of flaying) the idea that the victim has her punishment coming, even if the morality behind that idea, as in most slasher films, is suspect (i.e., because she engaged in premarital sex, is a hussy, etc.). In Martyrs, victims are ostensibly good, innocent people who deserve nothing in the way of such extreme pain—chaos definitely reigns.

To their credit, the Goetz brothers direct this Martyrs remake without any desire in inflicting undue suffering on the audience, framing some scenes, in fact, with what could be construed in any other movie as a modicum of taste, generally leaving the depravity outside the screen, relegated to distant screams and guttural howls rooms away from the camera’s focus. So then, what’s the point? All blame falls to screenwriter Mark L. Smith who, among a few forgettable flicks, co-wrote The Revenant with Alejandro G. Iñárritu. Yup—somehow the man who worked closely with an Oscar winning director wrote this abhorrent abyss of ideas, demonstrating no actual conception or understanding of what Laugier was maybe trying to accomplish with his original film. Granted, this remake has been in development for a few years, and so maybe this was written long before Smith had more experience under his belt, but the story so widely misses the mark—while succeeding in offering no character development, spatial logic, or spiritual flavor whatsoever—that not even a decade of development would have done much of anything to rectify this literal bloody mess.

Quick note of contextualization: While in the original Martyrs, the leader of the torture cult, Mademoiselle (Catherine Bégin), explains to Anna (Morjana Alaoui) that all of their actions are intended to help a chosen girl transcend her physical trappings to glimpse, in her martyrdom (natch), what lies beyond death, their plans are thwarted when Anna, who does survive the torture and essentially does transcend, whispers something to Mademoiselle which drives her to suicide, leaving the rest of the cult members without a leader or an answer to the question that justified so much of their godless actions. In the remake, Lucy survives to become the chosen one, and Anna survives as well, though in Lucy’s final moments Anna escapes her torturers, kills many of them, kills the American Madame (Kate Burton, tragically underused) before she can learn what Lucy’s seen, and then joins Lucy on the sacrificial altar as together they (I guess?) transcend to a higher plane of existence, spurred to enlightenment by their terrible circumstances. In other words, while the original Martyrs questions whether such cinematic cruelty is anything but obscene, the American Martyrs, though much more obliquely violent, insists that all of the cruelty was worth it. Because both characters do exactly what their torturers want them to do, which is to transcend their corporeal vessels in some sort of grand spiritual manner, the American remake affords its audience the revenge fantasy they want while ensuring observers that—like in The Passion of the Christ—all of that brutality wasn’t for naught.

The Goetz brothers and Smith have, in attempting to provide Americans a way into a cult French classic, created its polar opposite, crafting something as dumb as an Eli Roth film with only a quarter of the chutzpah. Martyrs is a film that wants you to believe it doesn’t revel in its own depravity, but there’s little evidence it has anything else on its mind. If this is punishment, now we just need to figure out for what. Probably for nominating The Revenant for so many Oscars.

Directors: Kevin and Michael Goetz
Writer: Mark L. Smith
Starring: Troian Bellisario, Bailey Noble, Kate Burton
Release Date: January 22, 2016

30 JANUARY 2016

• MOVIES
• OSCARS 2016

Academy Awards announce presenters amid #OscarsSoWhite: Whoopi Goldberg, Kevin Hart and The Weeknd to appear

Sam Smith, Lady Gaga and Pharrell Williams are also booked.

BY JUSTIN HARP

12 HOURS AGO

The Academy Awards have announced a group of performers and presenters as the #OscarsSoWhite protests rage on.

Unlike with this year's 20 acting nominations, the Oscars will include appearances from diverse actors, actresses and musicians for the February gala.

Whoopi Goldberg, Kevin Hart, The Weeknd, Sam Smith, Lady Gaga and Pharrell Williams are among the first wave of celebrities announced.

Also booked to appear are Benicio del Toro, Tina Fey, Ryan Gosling, Charlize Theron and 9-year-old Room star Jacob Tremblay.

© Getty Images

Producers David Hill and Reginald Hudlin said of this group: "Each of these artists brings a wonderfully distinctive element to the Oscars stage.

"Together they represent the many thrilling ways stories can be shared about the human experience, and we're honored they will be part of the celebration."

Celebrities not expected to attend are Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, Michael Moore and Tyrese Gibson – who are all calling on the Academy to encourage more diverse voices.

In response to the controversy, the Academy has launched a recruitment campaign designed to attract members from a greater variety of backgrounds.

Chris Rock hosts the 88th Academy Awards from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood at February 28.

Angie Tribeca: Where Slapstick and SVU Collide

By Christine N. Ziemba | January 20, 2016 | 9:30am

COMEDY | FEATURES

If Olivia Benson of the NYPD’s Special Victims Unit and Frank Drebin of The Naked Gun were ever to make love and produce offspring, we bet she’d be a lot like Tribeca—Angie Tribeca. A slightly broken, hard-nosed LAPD cop with a Lower Manhattan neighborhood as a last name, she’s the titular character of a new TBS comedy, played by the estimable Rashida Jones.

Angie Tribeca is the network’s first foray into comedy crime procedurals, and it’s a doozy. The show—which debuted all 10 episodes with a 25-hour marathon this weekend, before settling into its regular Monday night timeslot—combines the retro slapstick of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker productions Police Squad and Top Secret! with stories that are [not entirely] ripped from the headlines. Caveat: Not everyone will love the humor, as sight gags, juvenile jokes and puns abound, but those who enjoy physical comedy, police parody and just 22-minutes of pure episodic silliness are in for a treat.

Paste Magazine had an opportunity in late December to visit the Angie Tribeca set at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles to check in with the show’s cast and creatives, who were well into the second season’s production. Yep. TBS had already renewed the show before a minute of the first episode aired. Why would the network pick up an untried series that quickly? For one thing, Angie Tribeca was created and executive produced by Steve and Nancy Carell, a husband-and-wife team who might know a thing or two about comedy.

“Fortunately, Steve’s a better real boss, than fake boss,” Jones quipped, referring to Carell’s Michael Scott from The Office. “Obviously, their comedy instincts are so on point. They’re our fearless leaders.” It also helps that Jones’ and the Carells’ taste in humor align: “Just like the dumber the better…almost,” said the Harvard-educated actress.

Jones, a comedy veteran from The Office and Parks and Recreation, described Angie Tribeca as being crafted “in the spirit of the procedurals” that she loves—C.S.I. and Law & Order. “We treat each case with the same level of intensity as those actors do.” She described the one big difference: “It’s just that we have a dog as a detective, who drives.” (We’ll explain that in a bit.)

Nancy Carell (The Office and SNL), who co-wrote the pilot episode with Steve (who directed), also copped to a Law & Order: SVU obsession, and wanted to clarify that their show is “an homage to TV detectives, more than trying to mock them.” Angie Tribeca’s creative team, led by showrunner Ira Ungerleider, borrows tactics from favorite police procedurals and flips the script, creating humor from absurdity, she said. That’s a perfect way to describe a scene in the pilot, in which Nancy guest stars as the L.A. mayor’s wife. A typical police questioning scene between a suspect and police is given the Airplane! treatment: There are pork ribs, donuts and cotton candy involved, and it’s ridiculously funny.

Angie Tribeca is stuffed to the gills with visual humor and punnery, some subtle, and some over-the-top. Blink and you’ll probably miss a joke…or five. We did a double-take watching the opening shots of the pilot as a hand reached over to shut off a ringing alarm clock. (Check out Tribeca’s serious case of “man-hands.”) Later in the episode, as she and her new partner Jay Geils (Hayes MacArthur) investigate a blackmail case against the mayor, Jones, stone-faced, has to describe one of the mayor’s tattoos without flinching: “It’s a picture of a sheep with the words, ‘That’s what sheep said.’” We can hear Michael Scott’s stifled snicker now.

“I hope that there’s so many jokes per episode that you can’t watch it one time. You have to go back and see what you missed,” Jones said.

With comedy heavy-hitters both in front of the cameras and behind-the-scenes, the guest stars onAngie Tribeca are a famously funny bunch, and include Bill Murray, Lisa Kudrow, Keegan-Michael Key, Gary Cole, James Franco, Adam Scott, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and Jones’s own parents, Peggy Lipton and Quincy Jones. “Rashida just knows everybody,” Nancy Carell said. “She’s just been invaluable in getting these people to come on.”

While some may compare the show to another current cop comedy,Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Jones said that the programs are quite different. “That [Nine-Nine], to me, is a show that has a lot of heart, and it’s about the relationships between the people. This is a show about… jokes. This is a show designed for you to laugh. If you like this kind of humor, you’re in. And if you don’t, you don’t.”

Slapstick comedy may look carefree and casual onscreen, but the show is carefully choreographed, with the animal trainers at the ready to queue up the furry actors and production personnel on the edge of the frame handing the actors props. “[Physical comedy] is actually much more difficult to execute. Hopefully, [we] execute well,” Jones said. During the set visit, we watched a scene being shot in the morgue between Tribeca, medical examiner Dr. Monica Scholls (Andrée Vermeulen—watch our interview below), her colleague Dr. Edelweiss (Alfred Molina) and a highly uncooperative pool noodle.

In addition to Tribeca and Geils, other characters rounding out the precinct include Lt. Atkins (Jere Burns of Justified and Breaking Bad) and stand-up comedian Deon Cole (who was the highlight of Black-ish). “I play Officer DJ Tanner over at the Canine Unit. And I have a partner named Det. Hoffman, who’s a dog. He’s actually a human, because he does everything a human does: Drinks coffee, takes aspirin, fixes printer jams,” Cole explained. (For the record, Det. Hoffman is played by a German shepherd named Jagger, whose credits include the feature film,Max. His co-stars swear that Jagger’s not a diva, despite having his handler with him at all times.)

MacArthur explained how it’s possible for the cops in the squad to gloss over the fact that the detective at the next desk over—is a dog, “We treat everything totally straight on our show.” Added Cole, “I think that’s the challenge for everyone on the show. Me being a standup comic, my hardest job is to not be funny on the show.” Although silliness is de rigueur, not breaking during scenes can be especially tough for the actors, but both Cole and MacArthur ‘fess up to the tools they use to get through scenes: “I can’t look at no one’s eye,” said Cole. “In a lot of episodes, you’ll see, I’ll be reading something.” MacArthur added: “I just clench my toes really tight.”

Being on a basic cable channel like TBS has its advantages for a show like Angie Tribeca, including the experiment with the show’s release. Though not a binge-watcher herself, Carell is excited about the way the show’s being launched, airing all season one episodes back-to-back on the 17th. “That’s how people watch TV now,” she said. “And I love the way TBS is rolling it out, and it’s getting a lot of attention for the show.” To hedge their bets, TBS will also begin airing the show in a more traditional weekly format on Monday nights beginning on Jan. 25.

For Jones, the benefit of being on TBS comes back to playing with the boundaries of comedy. “I think we get two ‘shits’ per episode. I think because it’s not network, we can get away with a lot more. And because it’s satire, we have to push things as much as we can, because that’s where the fun is,” she said.

David Bowie's album chart domination continues as he matches Elvis Presley's record

And he's just off one set by Michael Jackson.

BY AMY DAVIDSON

14 HOURS AGO

David Bowie has matched a record set by Elvis Presley as his album chart domination continues - and he's just off another record set by Michael Jackson.

Proving (like there was every any doubt) that he's up there with music's greats, he's become the first artist since MJ, and only the second artist in history, to score five albums in the Top 10.

Jackson managed six records in the Top 10 in 2009 after his death.

Bowie's also racked up seven more Top 40 entries, meaning he's level with Elvis Presley's chart record for simultaneous entries in the Top 40.

© Instagram davidbowie

Elvis secured 12 entries after he died in 1977.

Bowie's final album Blackstar is number one for a third week, while Best of Bowie is at three, Nothing Has Changed is at five,Hunky Dory is at nine and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust is at ten.

Rita Ora Poses Topless(For Breast Cancer) for the Cover of 'Lui' Magazine

Image via Liu on Twitter

Rita Ora is freeing the nipple on the latest cover of Lui magazine. The British singer is captured in a black leather skirt with her shirt wide open in an image shot by Terry Richardson for the February issue. This isn't the first time Ora has posed topless for Richardson, the photographer previously featured her in a sexy black-and-white shoot, but the new racy shot definitely takes it a step further.

You might also remember Rihanna stripped down for Lui back in 2014 and was banned from Instagram for posting the photos.

To see Ora's entire NSFW cover head here.

‘Crackhead Bob,’ a recurring guest on ‘The Howard Stern Show,’ dies at 56

Howard Stern Star 'Crackhead Bob' Dead at 56

NY Daily News

"Crackhead Bob," a fan-favorite recurring guest on "The Howard Stern Show" in the late-90s and early 2000s, has died at 56.

Bob, whose real name was George Harvey, regularly appeared on Stern's show for seven years as a member of the Wack Pack — an eclectic group of guests who typically had something unusual about them.

Harvey earned the nickname "Crackhead Bob" after he revealed on air that smoking crack led to a series of strokes that hindered his speech and left part of his body paralyzed, according to an announcement on Stern's website Monday.

His good-natured sense of humor and willingness to partake in bits such as singing song covers or making prank phone calls made him one of the more popular members of the Wack Pack.

"He was a huge champion of our show," Stern said Monday.

L. BUSACCA/WIREIMAGE FOR SIRIUS SATELLITE R

Harvey made a name for himself as a recurring guest on “The Howard Stern Show.”

Stern discovered Harvey in 1995 after seeing him at a number of his public appearances in the mid-'90s. The popular shock jock made Harvey a recurring personality on the program shortly after, and he continued to make appearances through 2001.

Harvey didn't go on the show again until late 2005, when he surprised listeners with his improved speech.

He then explained that his newfound fame as a personality on "Howard Stern" led to a number of paid appearances — many of which left him surrounded by drugs and alcohol — so he decided to stop going on the show.

"I had to do what I had to do for me, for a while," he said on the 2005 episode.

He returned to the show again several months later for Stern's final appearance on K-ROCK radio.

Harvey is the latest personality from "Howard Stern" to die in the last two years, as Johnny Fratto, "Eric the Actor" and Riley Martin have also passed away during that stretch, according to TMZ.

FAREWELL TO CRACKHEAD BOB, DEAD AT 56

Photo: The Howard Stern Show

The Stern Show is sad to report the passing of beloved former Wack Packer George "Crackhead Bob" Harvey. He was 56.

"He was a huge champion of our show," Howard said Monday.

Crackhead Bob first became known to show staff after he was noticed at several of Howard's public appearances in the mid-'90s. "He was always first on line at any of the signings," Howard recounted to listeners during a 2007 appearance Bob made on the show.

On the day "Miss America" was released in 1995, Stern Show executive producer Gary Dell'Abate brought Bob up to the studio for the first time, saying that the crew believed Bob had, "cerebral palsy" or something. Bob explained on-air that it wasn't a disease that altered his appearance and speech but rather the effects of smoking crack - a series of strokes left part of his body permanently paralyzed. Though Bob initially had trouble articulating at what age he began doing drugs, through a series of hand motions and noises, Robin and Howard deciphered that his namesake addiction started around age 25.

(L-R): Chris Rock, Crackhead Bob, Colt .40 FeinbergPhoto: The Howard Stern Show

The combination of his distinctive speech impediment (which included an inability to say certain words, including his original name, George) and his good-natured sensibilities made Bob an instant favorite amongst listeners and the staff alike. Between 1995 and 2001, Crackhead Bob would make a number of appearances on the show in a variety of capacities including singing covers, participating in phony phone calls with Sal and Richard, helping interview Chris Rock, auditioning for Tommy Chong, and saving the day with his bad arm when a Jesus Twin got aggressive with Fred Norris. Bob's notoriety on the show even led him to being tapped to do an anti-drug PSA in the late-'90s.

Photo: The Howard Stern Show

In 2001, Bob announced that he would be taking a break from appearing on the show in order to focus on his personal health and his relationship with his family. After a four year absence, Crackhead Bob made a surprise return in October of 2005 with markedly improved speech. He explained to Howard that his decision to stop visiting came after he found himself surrounded by drugs and alcohol at many of the paid appearances he began doing as a result of his Stern Show fame. "I had to do what I had to do for me, for a while," Bob said. A couple of months later, Bob would return to the Stern Show again, this time to deliver a stirring speech on Howard's last day at K-ROCK.

After the show's move to satellite radio, Crackhead Bob would return to the studio numerous times. During a 2006 visit, Bob talked to Howard about what life was like before his stroke while Sal and Richard played some of the hilarious prank calls they orchestrated with Bob's help.

In 2007, Crackhead Bob challenged the winner of the Miss Amputee contest, Jen, to a ping-pong match for a chance to win $2,500. Unfortunately for Bob, Jen went on to win the best-of-five match with a paddle attached to her prosthetic arm.

By October of 2007, Bob had again decided to step away from the Stern Show and came on one final time to let everyone know he'd be moving to Texas. In the now-infamous moment, Artie Lange joked that Bob was only moving there because he couldn't pronounce the names of any other states. Attempting to prove him wrong, Bob tried pronouncing Mississippi, but came out instead with: "Tipi-Tipi."

As a fond and fitting farewell, Howard played his audience a selection of classic bits that Crackhead Bob had been a part of during his many years on the show. With Fred playing "Happy Trails," both Howard and Bob sang along together before saying their final goodbyes.

Our deepest condolences go out to Bob's family and friends.

Photo: The Howard Stern Show

Photo: The Howard Stern Show

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The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind the Madness Goes Double Platinum
02/01

Link


The Weeknd’s Grammy-nominated album Beauty Behind the Madness has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, thanks to a change in the way the RIAA awards certifications.

Starting today, the Association is counting on-demand audio and video streaming, not just sales, as part of its gold and platinum certification process. With the change in methodology, Beauty Behind the Madness was bumped up to double-platinum status.

Beauty Behind the Madness is nominated for Album of the Year and Best Urban Contemporary Album at the Grammys this year. The album’s first single, the quadruple platinum “Can’t Feel My Face,” is up for Best Pop Solo Performance and Record of the Year.

Additionally, The Weeknd’s song “Earned It” off the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack scored nods for Best Song Written for Visual Media, Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song. It’s also nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song.

LINDA RONSTADT TO RECEIVE AWARD OF A 'LIFETIME'

http://countryrebel.com/

Photo credit: Vince Bucci/Getty Images Linda Ronstadt can now add another award to her long list of honors she's received over the course of her career. Known primarily as a rock 'n' roll artist, Ronstadt has dabbled in multiple genres throughout the years, including country. Ronstadt famously collaborated with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris, and they released the album Trio together in 1987. The album held the top spot on the Billboard Country Albums chart for five weeks and ended up earning a Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Due to the success of Trio, the three artists decided to collaborate yet again, releasing Trio II in 1999. The album was another Grammy-winner for the group, taking home the award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. In addition to her 11 total Grammy Awards, Ronstadt has also earned three AMA's, two ACM's, an Emmy Award, and an ALMA Award. More recently, Ronstadt was given the award of a 'lifetime' when she was selected as one of the recipients of the Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award. The awards are included as part of the Grammy Awards each year, and are given to artists who have made a great contribution to the music industry.

"Each year, the Academy has the distinct privilege of honoring those who have greatly contributed to our industry and cultural heritage, and this year, we have a gifted and brilliant group of honorees," Recording Academy President and CEO Neil Portnow tells the Grammy Awards website. "Their exceptional accomplishments, contributions and artistry will continue to influence and inspire generations to come." Ronstadt has certainly influenced many artists throughout her career, and not only in one genre. Trisha Yearwood is just one of many artists who has been inspired by Ronstadt and her music. "[She] was kind of the queen of rock ‘n’ roll in the ‘70s, but she had steel guitar and fiddles on her records, and she had a really big voice," Yearwood said during a recent visit to the Country Music Hall of Fame. "I was always drawn to female singers that had really big, strong voices … So when I heard Linda Ronstadt, I thought, 'That’s what I want to do.'" Right now, Ronstadt hasn't been able to release any new music due to her diagnosis with Parkinson's Disease. Although she hasn't released a new solo album since 2004, she may be releasing another album with Parton and Harris soon, which will include outtakes from their previous recording sessions for their Trio albums.

In the meantime, Ronstadt and the other Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award recipients will be honored during a ceremony and concert in the spring.

Warner Bros. has uploaded a new Suicide Squad clip.

Scorp said:

Congratulations to Ms Ronstadt

Long overdue In her day and even now hardly anyone comes close to her vocal music range and genres.

The diversity issue: Jennifer Lawrence, Cate Blanchett and Lupita Nyong'o smoulder on Vanity Fair cover featuring women from different ethnic backgrounds as Oscars is engulfed by race row

• The special cover features some of Hollywood's biggest power players, including Oscar nominees Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence, Brie Larson, Charlotte Rampling and Saoirse Ronan
• Rising star Alicia Vikander and 2014 Oscars darling Lupita Nyong'o also join screen legends such as Dame Helen Mirren and Diane Keaton for the glamorous shoot
• The cover, shot by revered photographer Annie Leibovitz, is published as Tinseltown's award season gets into full swing
  

By MARC JACKSON and KAYLA CALDWELL FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 05:11 EST, 2 February 2016 | UPDATED: 10:22 EST, 2

Hollywood's leading ladies have gathered to bring some serious star power to Vanity Fair's 2016 Hollywood issue.

This year's Best Actress Academy Award contenders Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence, Brie Larson, Charlotte Rampling and Saoirse Ronan all take centre stage in the stunning spread, shot by revered photographer Annie Leibovitz.

The women all dressed in black for the 22nd edition of the publication's annual Tinseltown special.

Scroll down for video

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Leading ladies: A host of Hollywood stars have posed for the cover of Vanity Fair's Hollywood issue. (L-R) Jane Fonda, Cate Blanchett, Viola Davis, Jennifer Lawrence, Charlotte Rampling, Brie Larsen (bottom), Rachel Weisz, Lupita Nyong'o, Alicia Vikander, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Helen Mirren, Saoirse Ronan, and Diane Keaton

The main view of the cover - first revealed on Monday on Snapchat - was also occupied by heavy hitters including Viola Davis and Jane Fonda, as well as the likes of breakthrough star Alicia Vikander and 2014 Oscars darling Lupita Nyong'o.

Noticeably the shoot features actresses from a diverse range of ethnic backgrounds following the race row which has engulfed this year's Academy Awards.

The ceremony has come under fire from prominent stars such as Will Smith, his wife Jada Pinkett Smith and director Spike Lee, who have vowed to boycott the ceremony on February 28th after all 20 nominees in the acting categories were white for a second year in a row.

Cate and Jennifer are both nominated for Academy Awards for Actress in a Leading Role for their work in Carol and Joy, respectively.

Aussie beauty Cate, 46, showed off her enviable figure in a plunging, spaghetti strap gown as she leaned against Viola in the dreamy shot.

Her blonde tresses were parted off to the side and styled in soft curls, with the dramatic look complimented with bold, dark eyeliner.

Jennifer, 25, leaned back against the How To Get Away with Murder star in a form-fitting, sleeveless dress, as her blonde locks were slicked back into a chic up-do.

Two-time Oscar winner - and star of Netflix's Grace and Frankie - Jane modeled a shimmery, sequined ensemble along with classic, black pumps.

The star - who recently garnered a Golden Globes nomination for her work in Youth - looked younger than her 78 years as she stared demurely at the camera, with her short locks combed back and out of her face, highlighting her luminous skin.

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Cover girls: The women all dressed in black for the 22nd edition of the publication's annual Tinseltown special, shot by photographer Annie Leibovitz. Oscar nominees Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence, Brie Larson, Charlotte Rampling and Saoirse Ronan all take centre stage in the shot

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Box office golden: Cate and Jennifer are both nominated for Academy Awards for Actress in a Leading Role for their work in Carol and Joy, respectively

Jennifer Lawrence arrives in red gown at the 2016 Golden Globes

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Fan-favorite: For the second year in a row, Viola took home a Screen Actors Guild Award for her unforgettable performance as Annalise Keating on ABC smash hit How to Get Away with Murder over the weekend

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Rising stars: Alicia Vikander and Brie Larson have made the cover this year after acclaimed turns in The Danish Girl and Room respectively

Showcase a split like Alicia in Louis Vuitton

She's the actress of the moment, and Alicia Vikander isn't just winning fans on the big screen, she's fast becoming a top fashion icon too.

Attending the SAG Awards where she was nominated for Best Actress for her role in The Danish Girl, Alicia made heads turn by showing off her enviable figure in a slinky square patterned embellished gown. The sleek and graphic sequined dress is from Louis Vuitton and despite being long sleeved and to the floor, it makes a true statement on the red carpet. It's better to keep things a mystery! We're tired of the illusion/mesh trend anyways. To see more from Louis Vuitton and shop their current collections, click to the right to visit the website.

We can't think of anything more appropriate for the party season than a sparkly gown, and so we've rounded up a few of our own favorites from across the web - all guaranteed to make an entrance at your festive parties. Shop below from Laundry, Boohoo, Oasis and GUESS.

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Buzz: Brie is tipped for Oscar glory for her turn in the adaptation of Emma Donoghue's gripping novel. She has already won the Best Actress prizes at the Screen Actors Guild awards and the Golden Globes

Brie Larson stars in trailer for intense new thriller Room

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Stiff competition: Irish actress Saoirse Ronan and veteran star Charlotte Rampling will go up for Best Actress Oscar alongside Cate, Jennifer, and Brie for the roles in Brooklyn and 45 years

And it was no surprise to see Viola grace the cover, as the star is riding high following Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Award wins for her work as Annalise Keating on ABC smash hit How to Get Away with Murder.

She looked elegant in a long-sleeved evening gown, as her raven tresses were worn in a center part and styled in vintage, barrel curls.

'Since they’re all different in age, shape, style, and personality, I didn’t want to do anything that unified them in silhouette,' Vanity Fair’s fashion and style director, Jessica Diehl explained of the shoot. 'I didn’t want to put them all in slinky dresses, because that felt not personal.'

Moving beyond the main fold of the cover, the spread featured Charlotte, Rachel Weisz, Lupita Nyong'o, Brie, Alicia, Gugu, Dame Helen Mirren, Saoirse, and Diane Keaton.

Charlotte, 69 - who posed in a long-sleeved, sequined number with a slit up the thigh - has been recognized with an Oscar nod for her work in 45 Years.

Youth's Rachel, 45, looked stoically ahead as she modeled a stunning, strapless, textured gown amid a sea of sequins.

Brie - who has nabbed a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Critics' Choice Award for her performance in Room - lay sprawled on the ground in a dazzling, sequined dress with a low-cut front.

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Brit Invasion: Dame Helen Mirren and Rachel Weisz are among the three UK stars to appear on the cover. They have enjoyed acclaimed parts in recent respective movies Trumbo and Youth

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From TV to Hollywood power player: Gugu Mbatha-Raw started out her career on Doctor Who but her career have been given a huge boost since she landed a role in upcoming Star Wars Episode VIII

Lupita Nyong'o has emotional night as she wins 2013 Oscar

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Hollywood sweetheart: Lupita Nyong'o also appears in the shoot, which comes two years since she wowed Hollywood and picked up the Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her stellar turn in 12 Years A Slave

The blonde beauty, 26, will be vying for the Oscar against fellow cover girls Cate, Charlotte, Jennifer, and Saoirse.

In-demand actress Lupita, 32, who modeled an off-the-shoulder gown, has had quite the year, voicing Maz Kanata in the record-breaking Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens.

The star - who looked sophisticated accessorizing with diamond earrings - also voiced a character in Disney's upcoming live action reboot of The Jungle Book, as well as worked on drama Queen of Katwe and Broadway's Eclipsed.

Alicia has had quite the year herself, earning acclaim for her work in The Danish Girl as well as Ex Machina along with a Screen Actors Guild Award and Critics' Choice Award for the former.

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Acclaimed vs new girl on the rise: Cate - who has already two Oscar wins for The Aviator (2004) and Blue Jasmine (2013) - is in competition with Saoirse Ronan for the top prize. The Irish actress was nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category for 2007's Atonement

EXCLUSIVE: Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara get close in Carol

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Veteran vs box office golden girl: 45 Years - about a well-off couple thrown into turmoil - has earned Charlotte her first Oscar nomination despite a 50 year career. Joy is the fourth film Jennifer Lawrence has been given a nod for - she won the Academy Award in 2013 for Silver Linings Playbook

The 27-year-old wore a three-quarter-length sleeve shimmery gown with a thigh-high slit to show off her toned pins as she sat between Rachel and Helen.

Gugu, known for her work in critically-acclaimed films Belle and Beyond the Lights, showed off her natural beauty with simple make-up and a sophisticated, strapless gown.

The 32-year-old - next set to appear in Disney's star-studded live reboot of Beauty and the Beast - rested her hand on Helen in the dramatic shot.

The Woman in Gold star, 70, was striking in a flowing, ball gown with cap sleeves and a low-cut neckline.

She stood beside Diane, also 70, who showed off her signature style in a trendy coat, leather boots, a wide-brimmed hat, and a patterned scarf.

The Finding Dory star - also set to appear in TV series The Young Pope - showed off a wide, open-mouthed grin, the only smile on this year's cover.

Irish beauty Saoirse, 21, modeled a spaghetti strap number with a sheer cape and textured skirt as she sat beside Helen and Diane.

The Oscar-nominated Brooklyn star wore her brunette tresses pulled back into an elegant updo, highlighting her features with a soft pink lipstick.

The Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue is available on newsstands in New York and Los Angeles, and on devices on Thursday, February 4, and nationally on Tuesday, February 8.

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Renowned: Annie Leibovitz is the woman behind the stunning shot. The snapper - one of the most revered photographers in the world - has taken charge of the Hollywood issue cover for several years

FEBRUARY 3, 2016

in Category: uBYTES

It was an ignominious end to the troubled life of a brilliantly creative studio trailblazer. The tawdry details of exactly 49 years ago, on 3 February, 1967, are that Joe Meek took a handgun owned by one of the artists he had produced, Heinz, shot the landlady of the London home that also housed his studio, and then shot himself. He was just 37.

But rather than dwell on Meek’s personal demons and the sorry end to his life, the anniversary is a chance to celebrate a producer who was a true master of sonic invention in British pop music. In 2014, an all-time top 50 producers list in the NME placed Meek at No. 1, ahead even of George Martin in a top five that also included Quincy Jones, Nile Rodgers and Phil Spector.

This, too, at a time when resources were limited, hi-fi was pretty lo-fi, and he was working on budgets a tiny fraction of those that would be available to others even before the end of the 1960s. And all this from a man who couldn’t play a single instrument.

Meek worked with scores of artists, some of whom he made into stars, some who remained in obscurity and some who made their name later. In those various categories, the list included Tom Jones, John Leyton, Lonnie Donegan, the aforementioned Heinz, Shirley Bassey, the Honeycombs, Mike Berry, Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers and the little-remembered the Sharades, the Shakeouts and the gloriously-named Toby Ventura.

But the group with whom he had what many call his finest hour, and certainly his greatest commercial triumph, was the Tornados. Their superbly evocative, space-age instrumental ‘Telstar’ not only topped the UK charts in 1962 but became the first record by a British group to go to No. 1 in America.

Born in Gloucestershire, Meek was what we would now called a “techie” from early years, dabbling in electronics as a schoolkid and then working with radar during his National Service. Initial jobs with the electricity board and as an audio engineer led him to the recording studio, where he soon showed his ingenuity by suggesting a change to the sound compression on Humphrey Lyttelton’s 1956 UK hit ‘Bad Penny Blues.’

At just 30, in the new year of 1960, Meek founded his own Triumph Records, and one of his first productions, Michael Cox’s ‘Angela Jones,’ reached No. 8 in the UK in July of that year. Setting up the production company RGM Sound, he grew ever more confident and experimental, working in the confines of his 304 Holloway Road home and studio.

Heinz and Joe Meek

In such limited surroundings, Meek created the haunting effects that helped John Leyton to No. 1 with ‘Johnny Remember Me.’ The heartthrob actor-singer followed it with further Meek-produced hits ‘Wild Wind,’ ‘Son This Is She’ and others. Countless other young hopefuls came to the address in the hope of having their careers advanced by Meek’s production brilliance; many failed outright, and some, including the former Tornados member Heinz, became fleeting stars, in his case with the 1963 Eddie Cochran tribute ‘Just Like Eddie.’

After his third and final UK No. 1 as a producer, on the Honeycombs’ ‘Have I The Right’ in 1964, Meek found chart success harder to come by and began to feel increasingly resentful and paranoid. But his sad death should in no way overshadow some of the most quintessentially British, and endlessly innovative, recordings in pop history.

ART

KESH, IN THE LIGHT

By EMILY MCDERMOTT

Photography ELLINOR STIGLE

Published 02/02/16

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KESH IN NEW YORK, JANUARY 2016. PHOTOS: ELLINOR STIGLE. STYLING:KAROLINA BROCK. MAKEUP: LAURA STIASSNI/ARTLIST. HAIR: LINDA SHALABI/SEE MANAGEMENT. PHOTO ASSISTANT: JETT DROLETTE. STYLING ASSISTANTS: BRIA DAWKINS AND JASMINE HOLZENTHAL. RETOUCHING: MORPH RETOUCH C/O ARCMEDIAPICTURES.COM.


For three months, British artist KESH lived at Catherine Ahnell Gallery in SoHo, developing her solo exhibition "LJUS2." "That's how I tend to work," she says. "I always live and work within the space." Currently on view, KESH's digitally manipulated self-portraits hang on the white walls, illuminated only by an animated projection. As the projection moves, shadows shift behind the works, effectively referencing the show's title, which translates from Swedish to "Light." For each piece, KESH collages on her computer, beginning with as many as 1,200 images, before reaching a final rendering and printing the artwork. She printed directly on paper for years, but with this show, she printed on large-scale Plexiglas, an experiment that began with smaller pieces during her previous show "Flight:RS279" in L.A. In spite of her large source material, certain elements, such as a graphic black-and-white eye as well as employing numerology in exhibition titles, continually recur throughout her practice.

Keeping artwork accessible is another crucial point for the artist. In 2013, KESH collaborated with American Apparel, launching a line of clothing emblazoned with original artwork from her first solo show in Los Angeles, selling t-shirts for no more than $30. Last year, however, Versace launched a similar design, selling almost exact replicas for $650. "This hurts," she commented on her Instagram post, "what is this madness?" KESH is now suing the label, and at "LJUS2," she presents an affordable concept pop-up shop dedicated to the show, so that any visitor, with any budget, can become a collector of her work.

"A lot of people admire and appreciate art, but I know not everyone can afford a $16,000 piece of work," the 29-year-old continues when we meet her at the gallery. "I mean, almost no one can afford that. I want to make sure I keep things inclusive."


EMILY MCDERMOTT: You're from London, but all of your shows have been in America and you always create the works within the space you live. Have you always lived in a gallery setting or is more like you live in a temporary studio and the artworks are then moved to a gallery?

KESH: For the first show I lived in the gallery. I created my own space, which was called the cave. It was a live/work space in downtown Los Angeles on 7th and Spring. When I lived there it was quite derelict. I got this massive space and half of it was my bedroom and the other half of it was the back room—no [natural] light, all fluorescent lights. I turned it into this completely black-and-white space and had all my work there. I created my first show, "ME.ME.ME.," which was a show of self-exploration and studying isolation and loneliness. I created 14 self-portraits. That was my first live/work experience. Then I did Miami—I was living in a cabin in the woods when I created my show for Miami, but I lived and worked within the space. I created the entire show there and took it to Miami.

MCDERMOTT: Why do you think you're drawn to living where you work? Many artists need to have a separation between the two.

KESH: It allows me to have full access. I'm not really a job-type person, where I go do a nine-to-give. I have to be with the work at all times and experiencing it. If I want to get up at 2:00 in the morning and add to it, I can. It's not far away. I also think I have to drive myself a little bit mad because then I really get to go all the way with it.

MCDERMOTT: I imagine if you were living in the woods for the show in Miami that would have inspired the works to some extent. What was the inspiration for these works here? What was the starting point?

KESH: It's funny, because I had this idea of what it was going to be. I thought the whole room would be white and all the pieces would be white, because the space is a very bright white space. That's how I envisioned everything—just white and white and white. But it turned out to be quite the opposite. I wanted to take everything darker and lower. The way I view the works, they're more like feelings than anything else. It's about what I'm going through at the time. The last few months have been extremely hard—lots of illnesses in the family, my mother not being well, and lots of stress within business. I'm in a lawsuit, I'm battling one of the biggest companies in the world, and I'm just this little artist. I've almost lost my mind a bit, and this is a representation of that, of everything feeling chaotic and out of control, just not being able to process everything at the same time.

MCDERMOTT: You can see that with a lot of the works, particularly the way the brain areas of so many heads are literally just missing. It's like this explosion...

KESH: That's what Seven is. My head is just exploding.

MCDERMOTT: Why do you title everything with just a number?

KESH: It takes me a long time to understand my work myself, so I name them in the order that they're created. Then, maybe two years down the line, I'll look at them and I'll be able to understand what I was going through. I think in your hardest times, you can't really understand, until you're looking back on it. It's in hindsight that you're like, "Oh, that's what I was going through."

MCDERMOTT: How has living in New York influenced or changed your process?

KESH: I spent most of my time in here, so that was a strange experience—being in New York City and not actually being in New York City at all, being in one space almost 24 hours a day. There were sections of time where I didn't leave the space for three or four days and food was just brought in. I was sitting at the table in the middle of the room and everything was complete chaos. There's just one window, so I'd go and look out the window and see this tiny section of New York. I'd see people walking by, but it didn't feel real to me. I didn't feel like I was in New York. I almost felt like I was in space.

MCDERMOTT: Why did you choose to not go outside for even five minutes?

KESH: I couldn't. When I get into a zone, I obsess and I don't care about anything else. I have to make the work. Everyone was like, "You need to go outside, you need to go for a walk, you need some daylight." It seemed appealing, but I also didn't give a shit because I had to get this done. I only had a small amount of time to make this work. I didn't want to waste a second of it. If I keep going outside, I get distracted—and all these lunches and things I get invited to, I just don't care. I just want to make the work. New York is very distracting.

MCDERMOTT: During the opening of the exhibit, I remember you saying that the projection on the wall was kind of a last minute addition. Can you talk about why you decided to add it?

KESH: Actually, I made this work in 2014. It was for a video project I was working on, but I wasn't ready to put it out at that time. It felt too far ahead for what I was doing. I wanted to evolve into animation and video, and this show felt right for [this video]. It feels in the same vein. Elements of the projection were used within the pieces. It almost felt like I made this work far too early and I just sat on it for a while. I also wanted there to be an element of light to play on the pieces. I want to show that pieces are interactive and that they are see-through, because some people couldn't tell.

MCDERMOTT: I know that you create everything on a computer before physically printing it. What is that process like?

KESH: I consider myself a digital artist, so what I'll do is create everything with technology. For instance, these are all pictures of me taken within this space. I did three different shoots and took about 1,200 images, then went through and found the perfect one that I felt was showing my emotion at the time. I did a shoot in here naked and I took it into different programs and pieced it all together. I strip it down and place different things in different areas. I like to think of them as asteroids or something—I feel like I'm flying through space with these pieces. But I'm doing everything on the computer. I like to use things that didn't exist 50 years ago, or 20 years ago even. I want to always do things that are very current and pushing the boundaries of the way we create art.

MCDERMOTT: It's interesting that you refer to them as asteroids, considering the way you described living in this gallery as being like you were in outer space.

KESH: My show before this, which was called "Flight:RS279," was in Los Angeles at a space on Melrose. I lived in there for five days straight and I didn't leave the space, but it was an all-glass front. People could view me making the show. I'd have people observing me throughout that whole space. I lived and I worked and I slept right there, on view. It was very, very, very hard, but it was worth it. It helped me find a part of myself that I'd been looking for, and it was the precursor to this show. For "RS279," I felt as if I was leaving the body. It was like a death, in a sense; I was leaving my body and the show represented the journey of the soul to a regenerative place of reincarnation. Then this [show in New York] was the place of reincarnation. These two shows are connected and that's how all of my shows work. It's not very obvious yet, but the whole thing is a story. It's continuous. Everything is attached. [pauses] Is any of this quotable? It's really hard for me, I'm such a visual person, it's almost impossible for me to talk about.

MCDERMOTT: It's describing feelings through pictures. It's like, I can't always identify what I'm feeling but if you ask me to give it a color and a texture, I can do that. Your images appear hard, but if you had to give them a texture, what would you say?

KESH: It's a blend between hardness and softness. The surface is very, very hard but underneath you're going to see the shadow, which is so soft. You can't even touch it, but it's there. I think that really describes me. I have this quite hard outer shell, but inside I'm very soft. People that know me well know it's hard for me to open up, and I think that's how these feel. There's this hard, chaotic layer, but underneath there's something beautiful and very, very soft. I also created these pieces to interact with natural light. What I'm hoping is that when they're hung, the sun will come in and make the shadows move throughout the day. I want it to be able to move, to breathe in a sense. It's the same with the sculptures and the mini sculptures. Everything plays with light.

MCDERMOTT: Why do you want everything to play with light?

KESH: We live on planet earth, we have the sun, and it's the most beautiful thing, the way the sun dances and the way shadows are cast. Also the way that you can't touch a shadow, but it's there and it exists. Even just a little bit of light coming through will move all the way across the wall. It's a piece of art, in a sense. You're looking at it and it's unique, it's beautiful, and it's never going to be the same. It's always going to change. That's how I feel about the work. The work is solid, the work exists and will stay the same, but if you can have it playing and interacting with light, then it will always be different. It will always change and I like that. I don't like things to be the same. I like things to evolve.

FEBRUARY 2, 2016

in Category: NEWS

The new book Nashville: Behind The Curtain, to be published in April, offers a unique photographic insight into the home of country music. It's by London-based family, portrait and music documentary photographer Sonya Jasinski, who has had her work published in Rolling Stone, Q and elsewhere, and Emmy-nominated singer-songwriter and photographer Kate York. The book has the further distinction of a foreword by Kacey Musgraves, an introduction by Emmylou Harris, a preface by Kings of Leon's Nathan Followill and an afterword by Holly Williams, the granddaughter of Hank Williams Sr.

Both photographers have taken an active role in the contemporary Nashville scene for more than a decade. The book offers many of their most striking images of the artists, writers and producers who make up the modern-day scene in Music City USA, including photographs taken in the homes of Musgraves and Harris, backstage scenes with Lucinda Williams and Holly Williams and performance and studio images with many Nashville notables.

Jasinski grew up on both sides of the Atlantic and developed an early love of Nashville from her first visit there. York lives in the city, and has had numerous songs featured on the soundtrack of the hit TV series Nashville. The book is published by Insight Editions on 5 April, and more information is available here.

“This has been a three-year project with my best friend Kate York,” says Jasinski, talking exclusively to uDiscover. “We wanted to capture the country scene the way rock' n' roll photography used to be. All access, no rules, no airbrushing, and candid.

"Three of my favourite shots are Karen Fairchild [of Little Big Town] getting ready in the mirror, backstage, pre-show. She is the most beautiful and charismatic woman I've ever met. Equally talented and professional. I'm a major fan of hers, so this was an important shoot for me, and I knew in that very frame I got the magic shot.

“I also love the photograph of [British singer-songwriter] Lucie Silvas and John Osborne [of emerging country duo, Brothers Osborne] in bed together at their home in east Nashville. A dream spontaneous moment whilst I was shooting her for her album, and they look like the epitome of rock 'n' roll.

“Thirdly I got to shoot Hunter Hayes backstage in California four years ago, seconds before he went onstage. He was warming up as they were introducing him. Just the two of us. I tried to be discreet, and the energy and buzz was flowing around him. I could feel the electricity.”

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"I don't really have a go-to style," says 18-year-old British actress Ellie Bamber. "I can change from an Audrey Hepburn type of thing to '70s stuff." Yet, it's Bamber's ability to be a chameleon onstage and onscreen that attracted the likes of Tom Ford. The fashion designer turned director recently cast Bamber in his sophomore film, Nocturnal Animals, an adaptation of Austin Wright's thriller Tony and Susan. In it, a man sends his ex-wife a manuscript for a novel, and she becomes infatuated with the protagonist, Tony Hastings. Bamber plays the character's daughter, India, in scenes taken from a book within a book. "I'm from just outside London, near Reading," she says, "so I loved the opportunity to take on a Southern accent for the role. I watched Sissy Spacek in Badlands to prepare. To have [co-stars] Jake Gyllenhaal and Isla Fisher as parents was amazing." Bamber might have been looking to Spacek for inspiration, but on set she acquired the nickname Barbarella, the sexy sci-fi superhero immortalized by Jane Fonda. "Tom started that," she says.

Back in her native England, the buzz around Bamber is deafening. She was nominated for a Best Newcomer in a Musical Evening Standard award for her turn in the musical High Society at the Old Vic in London, and she soon will be seen playing Lydia Bennet in the big-screen adaptation of the undead Jane Austen tribute Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. "I get to be flirtatious and kidnapped byJack Huston—which doesn't happen every day." Not bad for a young actress who got into acting as a preteen for humble reasons. "Acting for me was therapeutic," she says. "It was a way of expressing yourself."

Bamber is also a compulsive list-maker: her favorite movies, song lyrics, food. Lately, she's been obsessing over the Japanese rice cake mochi after Gyllenhaal introduced her to it on set. Perhaps the biggest impression of her Nocturnal Animals experience, however, was her first meeting with Ford. "People were rushing around in his London office with clothes and scented candles," she recalls. "He arrived and took me through to his office. He's such a cool guy and extremely handsome." She says of his directing manner, "He wants to see every detail. Aesthetically he knows what he wants, which meant I could concentrate on acting."

ABOVE: JULIEN BAKER. PHOTO COURTESY OF JAKE CUNNINGHAMLO.


Singer/songwriter and Tennessee native Julien Baker still seems incredulous about the reception of her debut solo record Sprained Ankle. "That is a joke. That will not happen," Baker remembers saying to her manager upon being told that NPR and the New York Times were both interested in covering the album. "I just don't believe you." Sprained Ankle was released in October to near-universal acclaim, garnering positive reviews and reactions from New York Magazine, Pitchfork, Stereogum, and more. "I never thought the audience would be this wide, and it's a little bit unsettling," she confesses. "When you write something just to exorcise those feelings, you don't think about how it's going to be perceived on such a wide scale."

Sprained Ankle is sparse and haunting. Many of its tracks consist only of Baker's voice and a few jangly electric guitar chords, with an occasional drumbeat for good measure. It's comforting in its rawness, narrated in a first person that never alienates the listener. The album wrestles with reconciling the idea of a benevolent God and Baker's own struggles with addiction (which she now deems her "hooligan" period), allowing lyrics like "I'm a pile of filthy wreckage" and "Give me everything good, and I'll throw it all away" to feel true instead of overwrought.

The musician recorded at Spacebomb Studios in Richmond, Virginia, the same venue where Natalie Prass recorded her self-titled debut, while on break from Middle Tennessee State University, a school that also boasts notable alum Sharon Van Etten. (Baker recently switched from MTSU's recording industry program to a major in English literature.) But Baker isn't just an acolyte of her folk-rock peers:Sprained Ankle contended for a spot on best-of-2015 roundups alongside Natalie Prass and Van Etten's EP I Don't Want To Let You Down.

We quietly followed Baker's trajectory from Sprained Ankle's release, and when she expanded her touring schedule—playing the East Coast and Midwest in January, West Coast in February, and Europe throughout the summer—we wanted to know more. We spoke as she drove from Nashville to Memphis for the holidays, and about a month thereafter, we caught her set at Rough Trade in Brooklyn. Baker's live show is just as unflinching and visceral as her recorded work, and her between-song wisecracks just as genuine and humble as she'd been in conversation. Her on-stage persona reminded us of the point in our conversation when she quoted Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl: "We mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. That's one of the great things about music: You can sing a song to 85,000 people and they'll sing it back for 85,000 different reasons." Though she too might be singing for a different reason, the whole room was still ready to sing right back.


NAME: Julien Baker

AGE: 20

HOMETOWN: Memphis, Tennessee

EARLY EXPOSURE: There's no musician who just wakes up one day and decides, "This is what I want to do." It takes some development. Music and musical instruments were proximal to my life from very early on—I took piano lessons for a brief time, but then my dad had a guitar and when he was not playing it, I would pick it up and mess with it. He jokes that I used to complain that it hurt my fingers. My parents were always playing records: My mom was really into the Beatles and Fleetwood Mac, and my dad was more Billy Squire, Whitesnake, '80s hair metal. But I think there's that crucial point where you become an adolescent and you don't want to listen to your parents' music. In about fourth grade, I started listening to American Idiot by Green Day, The Black Parade [by My Chemical Romance], and Take This To Your Grave by Fall Out Boy later—pop-punky stuff. I wanted to learn these songs. I would sit in my room and teach myself through the records and play and play and play for hours. I feel like it's a necessary part of musical development to go through that phase where you think that your favorite style of music is the only style of music, and I thought that for a while. I was going to deathcore shows; if it wasn't heavy, it was sissy stuff. It must have been eighth grade and I picked up Transatlanticism [by Death Cab for Cutie]. I fell in love with artists like Daughter, Sufjan Stevens, Death Cab for Cutie, the Postal Service. That stuff is beautiful, and when I'm sitting alone in my room, that's the kind of stuff that comes out. I went through the intellectual folk thing, too. I've stopped criticizing pop. Yesterday I was talking about how 20/20 Experience [by Justin Timberlake] is one of my favorite records of all time. I'm a little biased because I rep Memphis really hard, but it unifies old Motown soul with this new twist in a perfect, mature, intricate way.

THE FIRST GIG: I had some friends in the neighborhood who would do Green Day and Fall Out Boy, and then I started actually playing. I kept playing, kept playing. I met Matthew, the drummer for [my band] Forrister, right before freshman year. We started playing together and we were like, "We should book shows." We got these really sloppy songs together and I booked us a show. After that, it was all I wanted to do. Every weekend, every day after school, we were playing shows together. I played in church and I filled in for other people. I would play in these more chilled-out coffee shop gigs by myself. I used to cover Bill Withers all the time, but I focused more on the band until I got to college. [In college] it was a lot more alone time, so that's when [Sprained Ankle] came into the world.

RELIGIOUS UNDERTONES: I grew up in church—I'm from the South, so that's not surprising—and I played in church bands. I went to contemporary churches in my high school years and I would play in the worship bands. But there was a period [when] I stopped going, fell off. Every adolescent goes through that phase where they lie and they go out and do stupid things and experiment with drugs and are destructive. For me, I feel like it was more destructive than normal. I spent a lot of time bitter and angry at the church because there were all these things I didn't understand: the conservative attitude that was so judgmental; these preconceived notions I had about Christianity being a religion of hellfire and brimstone. Organized religion in general has its faults. It wasn't until some people would invite me to hang out with their group of friends from church—I was acting like a piece of crap, and they were kind to me with no agenda—that I wondered what made these people compassionate. I started talking to them about it and I found a group of people who had a more applied, compassionate schema of the gospel—not rattling Bible verses off at you, but saying, let me take care of you,which spurred me wanting to investigate this platform of love.

I catch flack from other queer artists. There are religious people who say there's no such thing as a gay Christian. I've met other queer people who not only grew up in church but played music in church. It's really difficult because you're trying to have your relationship, but you're publicly singing songs about it. It's a scary thing to be like, "This is me, this is my identity." For a long time I was reluctant to mix those two worlds and I hid it. My queer friends were giving me grief, [saying,] "If Christianity is really so accepting, then prove it." So I came out to my worship pastor. I remember I was shaking and sweating, and I said, "I'm gay," and then she goes, "So?" I thought that was amazing, so I tell people that story all the time. It's not like I'm sitting here trying to cram a particular religious agenda down anyone's throat, but it's something that has afforded me love and peace and motivated me to be a kinder human.

A CASE OF NERVES: I didn't used to share [my music] with anyone, because I was embarrassed. I've learned to be a little bit more open. I used to hide everything away—the first time I ever recorded the LP with the guys in the band, we were recording vocals and they were begging me to sing louder because I was so ashamed of my voice. I was so shy. I try now to combat that with being chatty, but I get really shy about my music.

A VETERAN ON THE ROAD: I've been touring since I was 16, before I went to college. You grow up in the DIY scene and you form relationships with out-of-town bands. When you go to their town they hook you up with a show—in houses and church basements and weird bars—so for a long time it was me and Forrister in the van, roughin' it. That's the kind of touring I'm used to. The burnout is very different: My back hurts; I'm tired of lifting these huge amp road cases. But I'm surrounded by my friends who I've known forever, and I'm not lonely. But this is very different: It's weird red eyes and airport terminals and being very far away from your family. Touring in that sense is different. For the January tour coming up, I'm getting to bring my tour manager Emma who has known us for a very long time and has stuck with us through some rough tours.

LITERARY-MINDED: I love literature of all kinds. I'm not a snoot who resigns myself to only reading Chaucer and Balzac and Flaubert. I appreciate those things very much and I like reading stuff that's a little bit more austere, but I've always just devoured books. It does inform my lyrical style a lot. The first LP that we put out, when we were still the Star Killers and not Forrister, there are several songs that are references to literary works. There's one with a whole bunch of Dante imagery and then another that the title is a Tolkien reference.

AN EDUCATION: I came to college, and I'm glad that I made that decision because I think it's necessary that you go out and you explore who you are when all the scaffolding is stripped away. Recently it's been difficult because I was taking these reading-intensive classes—I got off stage at a show in L.A., got in a car, went to the airport, and then I sat down on a plane at midnight, my flight was departing, opened my paper and was typing my Shakespeare final. Then I landed, got in my car, and drove straight to that class. I had a focus in secondary education. I thought teaching high school would be cool if this doesn't work out. This is a trial run to see how this season of touring works out, and if it is a sustainable thing I might say, "I don't think I'm going to register for any classes and I'm going to just do music for a while." Even advisors, who I thought would discourage me from taking this time off, have said school will always be here. These opportunities to travel and accrue important experiences that will be formative and inform your philosophy more than sitting in a stuffy classroom ever could. I'm gambling here—it was only recently that I decided I'm going to try to be courageous and pursue this as Plan A. But Plan B's not bad either! Hanging out with high school kids, talking to them about why lit is important—that's a dream.


FOR MORE ON JULIEN BAKER, VISIT HER FACEBOOK.

[Edited 2/3/16 8:50am]

Billboard Latin Music Awards 2016 Nominations: Natalia Jimenez, Nicky Jam, J Balvin Take Nods; Plus Full List

By Jessica Lucia Roiz | Feb 03 2016, 10:20AM EST

Natalia Jimenez attends the 2015 Billboard Latin Music Awards 'Premios Billboard' at BankUnited Center on April 30, 2015 in Miami, Florida. Sergi Alexander/Getty Images for Billboard

Billboard Latino has revealed the finalists to the 2016 Billboard Latin Music Awards. The nominees were announced Wednesday morning at a press event hosted by Telemundo.

Stars such as Chiquis Rivera, Kimberly Dos Ramos and Nicky Jam took part of the exclusive event that was aired live on "Un Nuevo Dia." Leading the pack is the Puerto Rican urban star, who nabbed 11 nods. Other artists who received many nominations include Ricky Martin and J Balvin. The late Selena Quintanilla is also a finalist at the 2016 awards show.

"You make the awards," said Leila Cobo, executive director of Latin content and programming for Billboard. "The awards are based on the charts, in what the audience consumes. The Billboard charts are the most recent that exist in the planet," she added.

Billboard Latin Music Awards, hosted by Pedro Fernandez and Gaby Espino, will air at 7 p.m. ET on April 28 via Telemundo. Check out the complete nominations below.

Latin Pop Song of the Year
"Ahora Que Te Vas" - Christian Daniel
"Mi Verdad" - Mana Ft. Shakira
"Juntos" - Juanes
"La Mordidita" - Ricky Martin Ft. Yotuel

Mexican Regional Song of the Year
"Te Metiste" - Ariel Camacho
"Cual Adios" - Banda Clave Nueva De Max Peraza
"El Amor De Su Vida" - Julión Álvarez Y Su Norteño Banda
"Hablame De Ti" - Banda MS

Tropical Song of the Year
"Hilito" - Romeo Santos
"No Queria Engañarte" - Victor Manuelle
"Yo Tambien" - Romeo Santo Ft. Marc Anthony
"La Gozadera" - Gente De Zona Ft. Marc Anthony

Hot Latin Song of the Year
"Ginza" - J Balvin
"El Perdon" - Nicky Jam Ft. Enrique Iglesias
"Propuesta Indecente" - Romeo Santos
"Te Metiste" - Ariel Camacho

Air Play Song of the Year
"Ginza" - J Balvin
"El Perdon" - Nicky Jam Ft. Enrique Iglesias
"Pierdo La Cabeza" - Zion & Lennox
"Hilito" - Romeo Santos

Latin Pop Album of the Year
"Cama Incendiada" - Mana
"A Quien Quiere Escuchar" - Ricky Martin
"Los Duo" - Juan Gabriel
"Mis Numeros 1... 40 Aniversario" - Juan Gabriel

Top Latin Album, Male Artist of the Year
Joan Sebastian
Juan Gabriel
Gerardo Ortiz
Ricky Martin

Top Latin Album, Female Artist of the Year
Chiquis Rivera
Natalia Jimenez
Ana Gabriel
Selena Quintanilla

Regional Mexican Songs, Artist of the Year
El Komander
Gerardo Ortiz
Remmy Valenzuela
Roberto Tapia

Regional Mexican Albums, Artist of the Year
Chiquis Rivera
Gerardo Ortiz
Joan Sebastian
Vicente Fernandez

Latin Rhythm Song of the Year
"Borro Cassette" - Maluma
"Ginza" - J Balvin
"Pierdo La Cabeza" - Zion & Lennox
"El Perdon" - Nicky Jam Ft. Enrique Iglesias

Latin Rhythm Songs, Duo or Group
Zion & Lennox
Alexis & Fido
Baby Rasta & Gringo
Plan B

Top Latin Album of the Year
"Los Duo" - Juan Gabriel
"Hoy Mas Fuerte" - Gerardo Ortiz
"Cama Incendiada" - Mana
"A Quien Quiere Escuchar" - Ricky Martin

Artist of the Year
Enrique Iglesias
Nicky Jam
Romeo Santos
Juan Gabriel

Pablo Trapero's 'The Clan' To Have US Theatrical Release In March

By Natalie Roterman | Feb 03 2016, 10:43AM EST

Pablo Trapero's "El Clan" film is based on the true story of the infamous kidnapping family Puccio.K & S Films

Fox International Productions and Twentieth Century Fox have announced the U.S. theatrical release date for “The Clan,” which will open on Friday, March 18, 2016 on a limited platform basis starting in New York City and Los Angeles. The film will be marketed by Fox International Productions and distributed by Twentieth Century Fox. Written and directed by Argentinian auteur filmmaker Pablo Trapero ("Carancho," "White Elephant"). The film tells the true story of a middle-class family pulled into a world of kidnapping, ransom and murder by the family’s patriarch.

The film broke box office records in Argentina, and its impressive accolades include: Argentina’s Official Submission for Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards®, Winner of the Silver Lion Best Director Award at the Venice Film Festival for Trapero, Official Selection at the Toronto International Film Festival, and the AFI Fest. The producers are Hugo Sigman, Matías Mosteirín, Agustín Almodóvar, Pedro Almodóvar and Esther García, the same producing team behind last year’s smash hit “Wild Tales,” as well as Trapero.

On the surface the Puccios live like most families. Arquímedes (Guillermo Francella) presides over a modest household where his wife, sons, and daughters gather over evening home cooked meals to discuss their days. Eldest son Alejandro (Peter Lanzani) is a star rugby player who is manipulated into helping his father carry out the meticulously planned abductions. But when kidnapping turns to murder, Alejandro must finally face the truth that his father, his hero, is a cold-blooded killer.

The film stars beloved comedic Argentinian actor Guillermo Francella, who delivers a performance for the ages as Arquímedes, along with a break out performance by Peter Lanzani as his son Alejandro.

Gustavo Dudamel To Perform At Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show With Youth Orchestra

By Natalie Roterman | Jan 31 2016, 10:33AM EST

Venezuela's classical music superstar Gustavo Dudamel conducts a concert at the foreign ministry headquarters in Caracas February 15, 2014. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Seems like Coldplay’s frontman Chris Martin has developed a friendship with well-known Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel. The two reportedly met when Martin attended one (or more) of Dudamel’s concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Now, as luck would have it for all of us, they are set to collaborate in the upcoming Super Bowl 50 Half Time Show (as well as Beyonce) on February 7 at the Levi’s Stadium. The 33-year-old conductor is set to appear onstage with student musicians from the Youth Orchestra L.A.

President of the L.A. Philharmonic, Deborah Borda said she is delighted for the recognition the YOLA students will be getting. “I think it will benefit them incredibly — the question of music education in our social and musical structure ... it's a touchdown,” she added. The students have reportedly been rehearsing for weeks in anticipation for the big event, which will air on CBS and viewed by approximately 100 million viewers.

This comes as a magnificent opportunity for Dudamel, who’s main focus has been to make classical music more accessible to the world and part of young ones' education.

Complete Unknown

2016 Sundance Review

By Tim Grierson | January 30, 2016 | 1:34pm

MOVIES | REVIEWS

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Everyone fantasizes from time to time about pulling up stakes and starting over in a new life, but only Alice has actually done it—multiple times. The enigmatic center of Complete Unknown, she’s played by Rachel Weisz, an actress uniquely suited to portraying women whose beauty suggests vulnerability and maybe a dark secret or two. It’s easy to understand why all the other characters in this moody nighttime drama are initially absorbed by her. And it’s just as easy to grasp why one man never could really let her go, even though he hasn’t heard from her in more than a decade and has seemingly moved on.

The film stars Michael Shannon as Tom, who works the sort of job that is probably impressive but is so boring to describe that one can’t be sure. (He advises on the wording in proposed congressional legislation.) He’s having a birthday party, and he and his gorgeous wife Ramina (Azita Ghanizada) have invited a few friends over to their New York apartment. One of the guests (Michael Chernus) brings along a woman he’s met recently, Alice, but Tom knows her by another name from an earlier time in his life. Fifteen years after they last saw each other when they were lovers, she’s walked back through his door.

Director and cowriter Joshua Marston gives away some of the mystery intentionally at the start ofComplete Unknown. We see Alice in several guises: somewhere in Asia working as a magician’s assistant, somewhere in America dressed like a vagabond hippie, driving a car wearing a smart suit in the suburbs, working as a nurse in the ER. Can these all be the same person? That’s whatComplete Unknown leaves unanswered as Tom confronts her about why she’s really at his birthday party.

On one level, this film’s premise is ludicrous, presenting Alice as a woman with an almost supernatural ability to learn new vocations and adapt to new situations. But rather than carp about that, it’s much more fun to accept Complete Unknown on its own terms, which opens up the movie to be read in a more metaphorical light. Alice may be the one who’s constantly shedding her skin, but it’s Tom who symbolically gets a chance to do the same on this night.

Eventually, Tom’s guests tire of Alice’s stories, convinced she’s either a liar or, worse, a coldhearted woman who doesn’t care about the people she leaves behind when she grasps onto a new persona. (When she skipped out on Tom and the rest of her life 15 years ago, even her parents never heard from her, wondering if she’d died.) But Tom cannot help himself, quickly becoming drawn back into Alice’s orbit. And he has reasons: His wife just got accepted into an arts program in San Diego, which means that either Tom moves or they try to make a long-distance relationship work. (There are hints that their marriage isn’t so stable at the moment, by the way.)

Complete Unknown’s first half is devoted to the introduction of Alice and the guests’ delighted-then-disturbed reactions to her. The second half goes in a different, nervier direction, following Tom and Alice as they wander around New York at night, practically going back in time to when they were a couple. Everything they do together is meant to be taken literally—they befriend an older woman (Kathy Bates) and her husband (Danny Glover), they visit Alice’s lab (she’s working with frogs now)—but there’s a psychological underpinning to everything we observe. Unexpectedly, Tom has been given his own do-over, living inside Alice’s made-up reality for a few hours. Their nighttime excursion is a kind of emotional affair, and Tom learns firsthand how seductive reinvention can be. (When Alice tells the married couple that Tom is a doctor, he plays along, becoming a co-conspirator in her deception.)

Marston’s previous films were the you-are-there docudramas Maria Full of Grace and The Forgiveness of Blood. Complete Unknown is a sexier, more sensual film that’s about matters of the heart and the unspoken desires we all carry around with us. And he’s found the two best possible actors for these roles. Shannon always exudes a jittery tension, as if his characters don’t fit right in their skin. Tom seems successful but dissatisfied in some indescribable way: Alice’s appearance is both jarring and surprisingly restorative. And Weisz brings pure tantalizing inscrutability to her role. Alice is someone who’s unwise to fall in love with. But Weisz makes it clear why such a person, so volatile and untethered, is so damn hard to resist.

Director: Joshua Marston
Writers: Joshua Marston, Julian Sheppard
Starring: Rachel Weisz, Michael Shannon, Kathy Bates, Danny Glover, Michael Chernus
Release Date: Premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival

Amazon Looks to Expand Music Streaming Service

Look Out Spotify

By Gabi Gimson | February 2, 2016 | 2:40pm

Images via Wikimedia Commons, Amazon.comMUSIC | NEWS

As most seasoned Amazon Prime users know, the company now sells music. Amazon hasn’t been able to compete with more popular streaming services like Spotify or iTunes quite yet, because their music selection is relatively sparse.

The company has hinted, however, that they are looking to expand their presence in the streaming music sector. And according to unnamed sources in the New York Post, Amazon is currently in talks with several music executives to hammer out the details and establish a full-blown service that would compete with the likes of Spotify.

Rumor has it that the company would charge $10/month for services—which is a fairly competitive price, but Amazon Prime users already pay almost $100/year for their memberships. There is no word yet as to whether the Amazon Prime clients will have free or discounted access to the expanded streaming service, but you can be sure that plenty of them will be pissed off if they have to pay an additional rate for it.

Amazon is said to be taking the plunge next fall, so until then, we’ll turn to the company for discounted vinyl and cassettes.

The Cruel Intentions TV sequel is getting ever so closer to happening on NBC

A pilot episode is officially in the works.

BY BEN LEE

FEBRUARY 02 2016

The Cruel Intentions TV sequel is getting ever so closer to actually happening.

NBC announced that it has ordered a pilot for the drama series, and Kathryn Merteuil - originally played by Sarah Michelle Gellar - will be back once more to wreak havoc.

"Cruel Intentions picks up over 15 years after the hit movie left off," reads the official summary (via TVLine).

"It follows the beautiful and cunning Kathryn Merteuil as she vies for control of Valmont International as well as the soul of Bash Casey, the son of her brother - who was the late Sebastian Valmont - and Annette Hargrove.

© Getty Images Columbia Pictures

"Upon discovering his late father's legacy in a hidden journal, Bash is introduced to the world of sex, money, power and corruption he never could have imagined."

The Cruel Intentions movie back in 1999 also starred Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon and Selma Blair.

SAG Awards 2016: Get Dascha Polanco’s Classic Hollywood Wavy Bob Red Carpet Look

Actress Dascha Polanco attends the 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 30, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. Kevork Djansezian/Stringer/Getty

Alan Jackson Extends Celebratory Keepin' It Country Tour

Hit-heavy honky-tonker will stay on the road through November, joined by opener Lauren Alaina

BY ANDREW LEAHEY February 2, 2016

Alan Jackson has extended his Keepin' It Country Tour with dates that stretch into November. Rick Diamond/Getty

Later this month, Alan Jackson will kick off the 2016 leg of his Keepin' It Country Tour, a retrospective trek that launched last year in celebration of his career's 25th anniversary. The new round of shows begins with a February 22nd performance at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, where Jackson notched an all-time attendance record in 2012, before cutting a wide circle across the country. Former American Idol star Lauren Alaina joins the tour starting in March.

Like the sold-out shows that filled last year's tour, the upcoming Keepin' It Country run will largely focus on the 35 Number One hits from Jackson's catalog, with the occasional song from 2015's chart-topping Angels and Alcohol also making an appearance. Meanwhile, Alaina — whose self-titled EP hit stores last September, carrying with it five songs from an upcoming second album — is expected to focus on new songs like "Next Boyfriend," which she co-wrote with Emily Weisband and Matt McVaney.

More dates are expected to be added to the tour, which currently wraps in Fargo, North Dakota, on November 5th.

Here are the announced dates for Alan Jackson's Keepin' It Country Tour:
February 22 – San Antonio, TX @ San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo
March 18 – Jackson, MS @ Mississippi Coliseum
March 19 – Thackerville, OK @ Winstar Resort & Casino
April 16 – Anaheim, CA @ Honda Center
April 29 – Milwaukee, WI @ U-W Milwaukee Panther Arena
April 30 – Sioux City, IA @ Tyson Events Center
July 15 – St. Clairsville, OH @ Jamboree in the Hills
July 17 – Brooklyn, MI @ Faster Horses Festival
August 19 – Toledo, OH @ Zoo Amphitheatre
November 4 – Lincoln, NE @ Pinnacle Bank Arena
November 5 – Fargo, ND @ Scheels Arena

• TECH

Amazon Plans Hundreds of Brick-and-Mortar Bookstores, Mall CEO Says

Online retail giant considers opening up to 400 bookstores, expanding Seattle experiment

Customers paid for purchases at a newly opened Amazon Books store in Seattle in November. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG NEWS

By

GREG BENSINGER

Updated Feb. 2, 2016 6:40 p.m. ET

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After dipping its toes into brick-and-mortar retailing last year with its first physical bookstore, online giant Amazon.com Inc. is poised to dive into the deep end.

The Seattle company plans to open as many as 400 bookstores, Sandeep Mathrani, chief executive of mall operator General Growth Properties Inc., said on an earnings call on Tuesday.

“You’ve got Amazon opening brick-and-mortar bookstores and their goal is to open, as I understand, 300 to 400,” said Mr. Mathrani in response to a question about mall traffic.

That plan compares to the 640 stores Barnes & Noble Inc. operates and the 255 locations Books-A-Million Inc. said it had as of last summer. Both companies spent years building their retail presence. In addition to its one bookstore, Amazon also has a presence inWestfield Corp. malls, where it has set up permanent kiosks selling devices, cases and branded apparel.

It wasn’t clear where Mr. Mathrani got Amazon’s store figure, but he could have spoken with Amazon’s real-estate executives about their plans. Spokesmen for Amazon and GGP declined to comment.

If Amazon were to open hundreds of stores, it would take years to pick locations, reach leasing deals, and hire staff. Physical stores would give Amazon customers a place to leaf through books before buying them.

Barnes & Noble shares slid 2.3% to $7.90 and Amazon fell a fraction to $551, both in after-hours trading.

Amazon opened a physical bookstore in Seattle in November, its first foray into brick-and-mortar retail. The store, in an outdoor mall, sells books and Amazon’s Kindle and Fire devices. Amazon says it stocks the location using data it collects from its website. The store stocks about 5,000 titles at any one time, compared with millions on its namesake website.

The Seattle bookstore carries the same prices as Amazon’s online store, generally are at a discount to other retailers. It showcases customers’ online book reviews for some titles and, like many independent stores, has curated sections featuring selections from employees, including Chief Executive Jeff Bezos.

While Amazon can overwhelm competitors with its vast online inventory, it still cannot rival the immediacy of shopping at the mall. Not that it isn’t trying: Amazon has begun one-hour deliveries in about 20 cities and same-day drop-offs in other markets. At a handful of U.S. colleges, Amazon has physical locations for students can pick up or drop off merchandise and speak to Amazon representatives.

In addition to the Seattle bookstore, Amazon footwear division Zappos and Quidsi, parent of Diapers.com, have experimented with U.S. retail outlets.

Mr. Mathrani noted that other online retailers, like fashion site Bonobos and eyeglasses seller Warby Parker, are opening physical stores. Online makeup subscription service Birchbox “is cutting their overhead to open bricks-and-mortar stores,” he said.

Such stores also can serve as mini warehouses for home delivery in urban centers, a concept Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and others have explored. Warby Parker has said its physical stores are profitable in their own right.

Amazon’s Seattle bookstore has no apparent delivery component, though people familiar with its operations have said the retailer is using it to experiment with stocking shelves quickly using nearby warehouses and doing other types of data collection.

GGP’s Mr. Mathrani suggested another possible motivation for Amazon to open a chain of physical stores: returns. The CEO of the Chicago-based company said 38% of online purchases for what are known as soft goods, such as clothing and paper products, are returned to brick-and-mortar locations.

Corrections & Amplifications:
Sandeep Mathrani is chief executive of General Growth Properties Inc. An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the company. (Feb. 2, 2016)

New on Netflix: All the Movies and TV Coming in February

By Shane Ryan | January 29, 2016 | 1:45pm

TV | FEATURES

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Lenny Kravitz opens up about his chill lifestyle, his rock & roll heroes and the advice he got from his grandfather in a revealing interview. Illustration by Mark Summers

Rolling Stone recently touched base with enduring rock star (and actor)Lenny Kravitz, who weighed in on his ultrachill lifestyle, his musical heroes and some crucial advice he received from his grandpa.

You live part-time on Eleuthera, an island in the Bahamas. What's a day like there?
Last night, my sax player caught a 15-pound snapper that we just threw on the grill. That's the quality of living here: Pick vegetables out of the garden and fish out of the sea. My big decision is: Which beach are we going to hang out on? When we get to the water, am I going to paddleboard or swim? I don't surf, and I'm not even the best swimmer, but that's part of my New Year's resolution. I made a plan a month ago: Surfing is going to change my music. It's going to offer me something I don't have that I need to move toward. Lately I've been listening to "God Only Knows" over and over. A Brian Wilson phase wouldn't be bad!

How about in your other home, in Paris?
My house there was actually built to be the U.S. Embassy. Kind of crazy. It's a four-story townhouse that I bought 10 years ago. I had been spending a lot of time in Paris, and I just wanted to get a little apartment there. And somehow I got this! In the mornings it's about going to the boulangerie and picking out your pastries. I love that whole provincial way of living: You've got your butcher and your cheese guy and wine guy, and they all know what you like. I love walking the streets, stopping in a cafe and having a little lunch and a bottle of wine and looking at people.

You may be the first-ever rock star to have his own interior-design company. Why?
Creating something out of nothing — whether it's a space or a song, it's the same thing to me. When I was a kid, I was always into how my room looked, and I'd bring in lights and posters. I had some cool strobe lights; I'd break mirrors and use the glass and make mosaics. As an adult, I'd have a place for a couple of years and redo it and find another place and sell that one and redo it again. It got ridiculous, so I decided to start a company to do it for other people.

Who are your heroes?
Bob and Mick and McCartney — it's wonderful to see how they've become like the jazz cats. I saw the Stones on the last tour, the last show of the American leg. They were as hardcore as I've ever seen them — their aggression and precision were unbelievable. I look at them and say, "That's what I want to be doing when I'm in my seventies."

Bob Dylan gave you a harmonica after you saw one of his shows in Atlanta recently. What did you do with it?
It's on the mantel in my bedroom in Paris. I see it when I wake up. I've picked it up a few times and looked at it. It has a piece of tape on it with the keys written on it. I'll play it someday. I've put special things from my life on that mantel: the plastic cast of my hand that my uncle made when I was six; a ceramic mask I made in art class when I was about seven; a Cartier watch that belonged to [cabaret singer] Bobby Short; the handwritten set list to Woodstock that Hendrix wrote right before doing the gig. I bought those years ago.

What was your favorite book as a kid?
Kafka's Metamorphosis. As a small kid in the schoolyard, there were all these caterpillars, and I would sit and play with them for hours. I was into the cocoons and the whole metamorphosis. It always fascinated me — that something could be one thing at one moment and change into something else completely different the next moment. It meant I didn't have to be one thing, and I don't live my life like that. I'm always looking for change.

What's the best advice you have ever received?
My grandfather on my mom's side taught me to be authentic and follow my instincts. In 1982, I graduated high school and tried to get a record deal. But I was playing rock-based music and they said it wasn't commercial, that I should emulate whatever "black music" was happening at the time. I said no to about three major deals. One of them was to join a group of other African-American guys. Had I taken any of those deals, I wouldn't be talking with you right now. It might have lasted a record or two, and it would have been over.

What rule do you live by?
Not to sound corny quoting my own song, but the main idea is "let love rule." Love has to be the final outcome of every situation. If somebody works for you and they feel they deserve more money than they're getting, you have to respect it and say, "This might be more than I was prepared to give, but it's really fair to this person." At the end of a project, my longtime guitarist and collaborator Craig Ross will say, "Boom — this is what I need," and I never think about it. I never haggle with it.

What TO WATCH TONIGHT

February 3, 2016

ABC's Madoff Starts Scheming, Molly's Big Shock and More

Courtesy of ABC

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  ABC

  Madoff

  Miniseries premiere (Night 1 of 2): Oscar winner Richard Dreyfuss stars as notorious Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, who pulled off the largest financial scam in U.S. history; Blythe Danner (The Slap), Frank Whaley (Ray Donovan), Erin Cummings (Pan Am), Tom Lipinski (Suits), Peter Scolari (Gotham) and Lewis Black (The Daily Show) co-star.

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  The CW

  Arrow

  The Calculator (Tom Amendes, Everwood) pushes Team Arrow’s buttons; Nyssa makes her move; Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) returns. (View photos.)

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  Freeform

  Young & Hungry

  Season 3 premiere: Gabi’s desert road trip doesn’t go according to plan; Yolanda mediates when Elliot and Alan cut their honeymoon short. (Read preview.)

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  CBS

  Mike & Molly

  Molly is shocked to learn that Joyce intends on leaving Victoria the house in her will. (Read Melissa McCarthy’s thoughts on Gilmore revival.)

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  Freeform

  Baby Daddy

  Season 5 premiere: Ben meets an attractive new neighbor; Riley has an unexpected reaction to Danny’s proposal. (Watch sneak peek.)

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  The CW

  Supernatural

  Sam and Dean pay Jody Mills, Claire and Alex a visit after receiving a call from Claire, who’s allegedly been attacking normal people she thinks are monsters.

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  ABC

  American Crime

  Annie struggles with the knowledge that her son is gay; Taylor defends his actions to the police. (Who was a Performer of th...e mention?)

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  NBC

  Chicago P.D.

  Lindsay goes undercover to nab a rogue officer targeting women at a casino. (Get casting news. Also: Is Chicago Lawright around the corner?)

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  TV Land

  Younger

  In an attempt to learn more about Liza, Josh agrees to accompany her to a dinner in New Jersey.

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  FXX

  Man Seeking Woman

  Josh has a difficult time coming to terms with an important career decision.

Metallica will offer a free HD stream of their pre-Super Bowl concert, "The Night Before" Frazer Harrison/Getty

Metallica will offer a free livestream of their pre-Super Bowl 50 concert, "The Night Before." The sold-out show, held February 6th at San Francisco's AT&T Park, will be viewable in HD format via mobile and desktop devices at the LiveMetallica site. "We don't want anyone to be left out!" the band writes. "Keep watching the site and our social media outlets for updates all this week as the stage and production are built at the ballpark and we rehearse at HQ."

"The Night Before" show will also feature openers Cage the Elephant, with Metallica set to perform at approximately 8:30 p.m. PT. The metal legends have history with the hometown venue, having taken part in "Metallica Night" events at AT&T Park in conjunction with San Francisco Giants games.

Meanwhile, the quartet continue to work on their as-yet-untitled 10th LP, a follow-up to 2008's Death Magnetic. In March 2014, the band debuted eight-minute epic...of Summer"during their Metallica by Request tour; last November, they released an in-studio video that teased a few of James Hetfield's crushing...ress riffs.

"It's heavy," guitarist Kirk Hammett told Ultimate Classic Rock in October. "We've got some heavy stuff going. It delivers on that front for sure. You know, I would say a lot of it is along the lines of Death Magnetic. A lot of it seems to be going along those lines. But you know, with social media now and everything else, I'm a little bit wary to comment too much on the album, because then people pick up on it. Then, people think that that’s the final definitive statement on what this album is, or how much of it is done, or what it sounds like or whatever – and that's not really the case. It's not accurate. We're still working on it."

Whenever the album comes, fans will be aware in advance. "Right now, it's not like we're going to do one of those things where we'll just give it to iTunes on Thursday without telling anybody," drummer Lars Ulrich told Rolling Stone. "That's not in the cards."

Bob Elliott, left, and Ray Goulding took turns being the straight man.

Bob Elliott, who as half of the comedy team Bob and Ray purveyed a distinctively low-key brand of humor on radio and television for more than 40 years, died on Tuesday at his home in Cundy’s Harbor, Me. He was 92.

His death was confirmed by his son Chris Elliott, the actor and comedian, who said his father had had throat cancer.

Mr. Elliott and his partner, Ray Goulding — Bob was the more soft-spoken one, Ray the deep-voiced and more often blustery one — were unusual among two-person comedy teams. Rather than one of them always playing it straight and the other handling the jokes, they took turns being the straight man.

As Mr. Elliott told Mike Sacks, the author of “Poking a Dead Frog: Conversations With Today’s Top Comedy Writers” (2014), “We were both sort of straight men reacting against the other.”

Together they specialized in debunking gasbags, political airheads, no-talent entrepreneurs and Madison Avenue hypemasters. Their weapon was not caustic satire but wry understatement.

A typical bit of theirs was called “The Bob and Ray Overstocked Warehouse,” in which Mr. Elliott announced, deadpan: “We have 124 full cases of canned corned beef, which are clearly stamped ‘San Juan Hill, 1898.’ If you do not find this corned beef all you had hoped it would be, just leave word with the executor of your estate to return the remaining unopened cans to us.”

Perhaps the most enduring, and endearing, character they created was Mr. Elliott’s mild-mannered but indefatigable radio reporter, Wally Ballou.

Wally, whose reports always began a split-second late (“...ly Ballou here”), was a self-promoter, but a modest one — he was known to introduce himself as “radio’s highly regarded Wally Ballou, winner of over seven international diction awards.” His interview subjects (all played by Mr. Goulding, of course) had even more to be modest about than he did. They included a farmer who was plagued with bad luck, even though his crop consisted of four-leaf clovers, and the owner of a paper-clip factory whose idea of efficiency was paying his workers 14 cents a week.

Continue reading the main story

‘The Bob and Ray Overstocked Warehouse’

Mr. Elliot, left, purveyed a distinctively low-key brand of humor.

After Mr. Goulding died in 1990, many feared they would never see or hear Mr. Elliott again, so inseparable was he from his partner. But he continued to work.

He became a cast member of Garrison Keillor’s “American Radio Company of the Air,” which briefly replaced “A Prairie Home Companion” on public radio. He appeared in the Bill Murray movie “Quick Change.” He played the father of his son Chris in the 1990-92 television series “Get a Life” and the 1994 movie “Cabin Boy.”

Comedy was an Elliott family affair. Chris Elliott — who in 1989 wrote a parody of celebrity tell-all books, “Daddy’s Boy,” with “rebuttals” by his father — has two daughters, Abby and Bridey, who also went into the business. Abby Elliott is a movie and TV actress who spent four seasons on “Saturday Night Live,” where Chris had earlier been a cast member. Bridey Elliott co-starred in the 2015 movie “Fort Tilden.”

Mr. Elliott also made commercials — real ones, as he had with Mr. Goulding years earlier when they provided the voices for Bert and Harry Piel, the animated spokesmen for a New York brewing company. But any fan who heard Mr. Elliott’s mellow voice in a legitimate commercial could not help recalling the spoofs of Madison Avenue spots that he did over the years with Mr. Goulding.

The team’s ersatz advertisements included exhortations on behalf of the Monongahela Metal Foundry (“Steel ingots cast with the housewife in mind”), Einbinder Flypaper (“The flypaper you’ve gradually grown to trust over the course of three generations”) and Height Watchers International.

Though Bob and Ray were seen on television, on Broadway and in the movies “Cold Turkey” (1971) and “Author! Author!” (1982), radio was their natural habitat. “Ray and I both grew up with radio,” Mr. Elliott once said. “Our whole hopes for the future were that we’d get into radio.” They won three Peabody Awards for their radio work and were inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1984 and the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1995.

Robert Brackett Elliott was born on March 26, 1923, in Boston. His father was an insurance salesman; his mother refinished antiques. An only child, he grew up in Winchester, Mass., and while attending Winchester High School developed his radio skills over the school’s public address system.

After high school, Mr. Elliott ventured to New York to enroll in the Feagin School of Drama and Radio. Back in Boston, he briefly worked as an announcer at WHDH before serving in Northern Europe with the Army during World War II.

After his discharge in 1946, he returned to WHDH, where he met Mr. Goulding, who had been hired as a D.J. and had a morning show. Mr. Elliott told Whitney Balliett of The New Yorker in 1982 that the two hit it off and began to ad-lib between records to amuse themselves.

“It wasn’t always funny,” he recalled, “but it was something.”

Bob and Ray’s style quickly took shape. As the cultural historian Gerald Nachman wrote, they “never felt a need to destroy their targets, preferring to tickle them to death with a well-aimed feather.”

Photo

Bob Elliott, left, and his son Chris on the show “Get a Life.”CreditFOX, via Photofest

Within a few months, WHDH gave them their own show, “Matinee With Bob and Ray.” New Englanders liked their patter so much that the station soon gave them another, “Breakfast With Bob and Ray.”

After five years in Boston, they went to New York, auditioned for NBC and were given a 13-week contract. They quit their jobs in Boston and started doing a one-hour Saturday night show on NBC radio in 1951.

They soon made the transition to television. Not all the critics loved them: Jack Gould of The New York Times dismissed them as “an incredibly inept ‘comedy’ team” that delivered “pedestrian theatrics.” But most of their reviews were good, and they began to acquire a loyal following.

Their career quietly picked up steam throughout the 1950s. They were prominently featured on the NBC weekend radio show “Monitor.” They recorded comedy albums. They began appearing on television variety shows; over the years, they were the guests of Ed Sullivan, Johnny Carson, Steve Allen, David Letterman and others. Along the way, they acquired a silent partner, Tom Koch, the uncredited writer or co-writer of many of their routines.

They brought their act to Broadway in 1970 with “The Two and Only,” in which Mr. Elliott appeared as Wally Ballou and as, among other characters, the president of the Slow Talkers of America, who talked so slowly that he drove his interviewer, Mr. Goulding, into a rage. (He was still talking as the curtain fell for intermission — and still in midsentence when it rose again for the second act.) It ran for five months.

By the early 1980s, Bob and Ray’s gentle approach had largely been supplanted by a louder and angrier brand of comedy. But they were not forgotten — perhaps, Mr. Elliott theorized, because the “hilarity of pomposity” had not gone out of style — and in 1982, they returned to the airwaves with “The Bob and Ray Public Radio Show” on NPR. They remained on the air for as long as Mr. Goulding’s failing health allowed.

When not performing, Mr. Elliott liked to paint, and he kept a studio in Manhattan for that purpose. He also liked carpentry and prided himself on personally having built at least half his house in Maine.

Mr. Elliott’s marriage to Jane Underwood ended in divorce. His second wife, the former Lee Pepper, died in 2012.

Besides his son Chris, he is survived by another son, Robert Jr.; three daughters, Colony Elliott Santangelo, Amy Elliott Andersen and Shannon Elliott; 11 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

The reasons for Bob and Ray’s lasting appeal were hard to pin down. “Maybe the secret of our success,” Mr. Elliott himself once suggested, “is that we emerge only every few years. We don’t saturate the public, and new generations seem to keep discovering us.”

They were still being discovered two decades after Mr. Goulding’s death, and Mr. Elliott remained proud of their accomplishments — although he tended to express that pride, as he expressed almost everything, very quietly.

One expected no less from a man who once said of his partner and himself, “By the time we discovered we were introverts, it was too late to do anything about it.”

Correction: February 3, 2016
An earlier version of this obituary misquoted Mr. Elliott at one point. He said “Ray and I both grew up with radio,” not “Bob and I both grew up with radio.” The earlier version also misquoted a line from a Bob and Ray parody commercial. It was “The flypaper you’ve gradually grown to trust over the course of three generations” — not “The flypaper you’ve gradually learned to trust over the course of three decades.”

The definitive truth about Elvis Presley and racism according to B.B. King

David G. Hartwell, Literary-Minded Editor of Science Fiction, Dies at 74

By DANIEL E. SLOTNIK FEB. 3, 2016

David G. Hartwell in 2006.

Credit Kathryn Cramer

David G. Hartwell, an editor who brought a literary sensibility to genres like horror, fantasy and science fiction, working with Frank Herbert, Philip K. Dick and other notable authors, has died. He was 74.

He was declared brain-dead on Jan. 20 at a hospital in Plattsburgh, N.Y., after falling down the stairs the day before at his home in Westport, N.Y., said his wife, the writer and editor Kathryn Cramer.

Mr. Hartwell worked at several publishing houses before starting as a consulting editor at Tor/Forge Books in the early 1980s. At his death, he was a senior editor there. He was nominated more than 40 times for Hugo Awards, among the most prominent prizes in science fiction, and won three times for editing.

Patrick Nielsen Hayden, a senior editor at Tor, said in an email that Mr. Hartwell had edited and published hundreds of books, including Mr. Dick’s novels “The Divine Invasion,” “The Transmigration of Timothy Archer” and “Radio Free Albemuth,” as well as novels in Mr. Herbert’s “Dune” saga and Gene Wolfe’s “The Book of the New Sun” series.

He also compiled dozens of anthologies, many with Ms. Cramer, including “The Space Opera Renaissance” (2006) and “Spirits of Christmas: Twenty Other-Worldly Tales” (1989), and he wrote “Age of Wonders: Exploring the World of Science Fiction” (1984).

Mr. Hartwell championed genre fiction long before crossover hits like the “Lord of the Rings” films, HBO’s “Game of Thrones” series and AMC’s “The Walking Dead” broadened its audience.

George R. R. Martin, whose novels are the basis for “Game of Thrones,” wrote a book with Lisa Tuttle early in his career, “Windhaven,” which Mr. Hartwell edited for his Timescape Books imprint.

“Tor’s long long track record as the pre-eminent publisher of science fiction and fantasy in the United States is based in no small part” on Mr. Hartwell’s work, Mr. Martin wrote in an online tribute.

David Geddes Hartwell was born on July 10, 1941, in Salem, Mass. He graduated from Wilmington High School in Wilmington, Mass., then from Williams College in 1963 before earning a master’s degree in English literature from Colgate University and a doctorate in comparative medieval literature from Columbia University in 1973.

He began his career at Signet in the early 1970s. In 1978, he joined Pocket Books, where he founded Timescape, which published several major science-fiction authors and released a series of “Star Trek” novels.

Mr. Hartwell married Patricia Wolcott in the late 1960s, and they divorced in 1992. He married Ms. Cramer in 1997. In addition to her, he is survived by two sisters, Rebecca Chin and Janice Hartwell; a son, Geoffrey, and a daughter, Alison Wolcott Hartwell, from his first marriage; and a son, Peter Cramer Hartwell, and a daughter, Elizabeth Cramer Hartwell, from his second.

Gambling on O’Neill: Forest Whitaker Makes His Broadway Debut in ‘Hughie’

By MICHAEL PAULSONFEB. 3, 2016

Forest Whitaker, on the set of “Hughie” at the Booth Theater, describes theater as “a magical medium.” CreditJake Chessum for The New York Times

The moment Forest Whitaker steps onto 42nd Street, the shouting begins.

“Can I get a picture with you, please?” “One selfie? One selfie?” “You’re the best.”

It’s just three blocks from the rehearsal studio to the theater where he will be making his Broadway debut, but around him, the city is throbbing. There are blazing billboards, screaming sirens, crushing crowds.

Mr. Whitaker is trying to tune all that out. He’s been obsessing about Times Square, but the Times Square of 1928, swanky and soaring just before the big stock market crash.

It was at a hotel in this neighborhood — at 43rd and Broadway, on a site now marked with a plaque next to a Starbucks — that Eugene O’Neill was born in 1888. And it was at a hotel in this neighborhood that the playwright set the one-act play “Hughie,” in which Mr. Whitaker is preparing to star as a small-time gambler and big-time drinker called Erie Smith.

The role will be the first time in decades that Mr. Whitaker, an in-demand film and television actor who won an Oscar for his work in “The Last King of Scotland,” has acted in a play. It will also be the first time that a black actor has played Erie Smith on Broadway — a detail that might be just theatrical trivia, but for the fact that it comes at a time when Hollywood is convulsed by debate over this year’s all-white slate of Oscar acting nominees, while Broadway is celebrating its most diverse season ever.

“Look — I’m an African-American,” he said. “I’m black. But I’m just looking at the character and trying to find his soul, his energy,” Mr. Whitaker said. “If you can wipe away the blanket of skin and flesh that people tend to see, and look inside for the essence of the soul, then that’s the work I’m doing. That’s the work I always do.”

On a chilly afternoon last week, as Mr. Whitaker walked from rehearsal at the New 42nd Street Studiosto visit the set still under construction at the Booth Theater, he paused, willingly but silently, to pose for photos with passers-by. But in his head he was already shedding his own identity, allowing Erie to supplant Forest. He is a big man learning to become smaller, an introvert learning to chatter, a winner learning to lose.

Original Review: ‘Hughie’

FROM THE ARCHIVE | DEC. 23, 1964

Howard Taubman's review of the Eugene O'Neill play at the Royale Theater.

The New York Times

See full article in TimesMachine

“His rhythms are starting to invade inside of me, so that I can feel I’m about to move into a journey where he’ll be in my bloodstream,” Mr. Whitaker said. “I already notice he’s infecting my laugh; he’s starting to breathe and shift my rhythm.”

As he searches for his inner Erie, Mr. Whitaker is drawing on the memory of a man he knew years ago, when he was a college student volunteering, and then working, at a halfway house in Los Angeles. The man was an addict, and a loner, and shared strangely obsessive details, like “how many cups of coffee he had.” Now Mr. Whitaker is incorporating that man’s characteristics into his understanding of Erie — how he walked, the way he moved his hands, the catch in his voice.

Mr. Whitaker, of course, is no stranger to shape-shifting. Over the last three decades, he has played a huge variety of roles on film and TV, often in prestige projects like “Bird” and “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.”

In person he is quiet, thoughtful and passionate, particularly about acting, and about justice; he is also a Californian (although he muses aloud about spending more time in New York), a longtime vegetarian (vegan in recent years) and a lifelong practitioner of martial arts (after years of Kali, a Filipino sport, he has recently become interested in qigong, a Chinese practice).

Photo

Jason Robards in a 1984 TV production of “Hughie.”CreditEverett Collection

“When someone asks, ‘Can you describe Forest Whitaker?’ you go: ‘Based on what? “The Crying Game?” Idi Amin? “Southpaw”?’ He’s so different in each of them,” said Michael Grandage, the Tony-winning director of “Hughie,” which is scheduled to begin previews on Monday, Feb. 8, and open Feb. 25.

“He’s a transformer, and he does it literally,” Mr. Grandage said. “In rehearsal, he has lost almost a few inches off his own size, because he’s gone into himself as Erie; he’s adjusted his own vocal point, which is a great bass baritone voice naturally, to something slightly higher and more vulnerable, and he’s constantly looking over his shoulder, because Erie is paranoid.”

Mr. Whitaker, a 54-year-old Method actor who is known for delving deep as he prepares for his roles, acknowledges that when he explains his artistic process, it might seem a bit strange. But he describes it anyway: “There’s a molecule inside of you that is connected to everything — every person, every energy, every thing. You look for it, and when you find it, then you allow it to magnify and grow and be the dominating chemistry inside of you.” Over time, he added, “there’s a certain surrender, which is the method of allowing the other energy to take over, and be the leading force inside of you.”

This winter, slowly but determinedly, Forest Whitaker has been surrendering to Erie Smith.

Photo

Forest Whitaker with Robin Williams in “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.”CreditAnne Marie Fox/Weinstein Company

“The other day, I started seeing him dancing in my head, moving around like he’s not full yet, like one of those animated characters in a computer, and he’s saying: ‘Hey, Forest! Don’t you see me? I’m here! I’m here! Let me out! Let me out!’” he said.

Erie Smith, of course, first emerged from the imagination of O’Neill, drawn from some of the hustlers and sports he knew as a young man, and using a patois associated with early 20th-century New York (sample language: “the Brooklyn Boys,” meaning the D.T.s, and “bangtail,” meaning racehorse). The play, which runs just 60 minutes, takes place between 3 and 4 in the morning in the lobby of the rundown turn-of-the-century hotel where Erie Smith has been living; the longtime night clerk, Hughie, has just passed away, to Erie’s dismay, and Erie finds himself talking instead to a new and indifferent night clerk, played in this production by the Tony-winning actor Frank Wood.

O’Neill wrote the play in 1941, but it was not performed during his lifetime; it was first staged in Stockholm, in Swedish, in 1958, and since then has been performed in English by a number of famous actors, starting with Burgess Meredith, who played the role in England in 1963, followed by three Broadway productions, starring Jason Robards in 1964, Ben Gazzara in 1975 and Al Pacino in 1996.

“When it came out, it got respectful reviews, but they weren’t over the moon,” said Robert M. Dowling, an O’Neill biographer who is a professor of English at Central Connecticut State University. “Now ‘Hughie’ is considered by a lot of people to be the greatest one-act play ever written by an American.”

Photo

Forest Whitaker in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” CreditUniversal Pictures

The play, Professor Dowling said, can be seen as a commentary on America on the eve of the Great Depression; Erie Smith lives in Room 492, a nod to 1492, the year Columbus reached the New World.

“It’s a distilled version of ‘The Iceman Cometh,’ where the isolation and despair and alienation that comes with modern life demands people construct these life-sustaining pipe dreams about themselves to give their lives a sense of significance and meaning,” he said.

Mr. Whitaker was not familiar with the play when a Broadway producer sent it to his agent last year. He had studied drama, as well as music, as an undergraduate but had not appeared onstage since shortly after graduating from college; after his film career took off, he thought about trying stage acting, drawn to what he saw as “a magical medium,” and almost every year someone proposed a project for him. He thought he was holding out for an original play, when, out of the blue, a Broadway producer, Darren Bagert, sent him the script of “Hughie.”

Mr. Whitaker did not know the play, or Mr. Bagert, but he was intrigued — he liked the idea of O’Neill, the theme of identity, the context of mourning. Over lunch at the Essex House, he asked Mr. Bagert why he had thought of him. “I told him I wasn’t reaching out for an all-black version of ‘Hughie,’ and I wasn’t making a statement,” Mr. Bagert said.

Photo

Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland.”CreditNeil Davidson/Fox Searchlight Pictures

The actor signed on, albeit with some trepidation. “I want to get better as an actor, to keep trying to work harder, trying to discover something different,” he said. “In some ways, it’s a pretty frightening experience. But normally I do tend to walk against fear, and hope that I’ll be able to survive.”

Mr. Whitaker is a busy man. In recent months, he shotthe next movie in the “Star Wars” franchise (“They told me I can’t really talk about it. They haven’t even sent the name of my character. But the character I play is quite unusual — he lives in a deeper duality than normal in ‘Star Wars’”), as well as the TV remake of “Roots.” He is a director (“Waiting to Exhale”) and producer (“Fruitvale Station”). He spends about 60 percent of his time on philanthropy, overseeing hisfoundation, which works on conflict resolution around the globe, and representing the United Nations, which has appointed him as Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation of Unesco.

His global advocacy work has informed his appreciation for the United States, he said. “You recognize the freedoms and the liberties and the beauty of this nation, and you need to celebrate that, too,” he said, because, unlike in some parts of the world, “women are not being stoned for learning in class, people are not getting acid thrown in their faces, people are not burning people alive.”

But he is deeply concerned about challenges in this country. “We’re supposed to be an example of freedom, and if we are doing things that are injustice to people, than what is our statement?” he asks.

Some of that concern is informed by his own personal experiences: Just three years ago, he was accosted and falsely accused of shoplifting by a deli worker in Morningside Heights; years earlier, as an adolescent growing up in Compton, Calif., he had repeated run-ins with the police. “We’re talking about being thrown in the street, helicopters following me, police harassing me every day when I was coming home from school at a bus stop,” he said. “There’s a lot of good people with good intentions trying to do helpful things, but unfortunately, because this problem is so systemic, it’s caused so much pain and lost lives.”

Mr. Whitaker remains fundamentally optimistic — he cited changes in the United States since segregation and in South Africa since apartheid — but he said issues like the lack of diversity among the Oscar nominees this year should prompt a reflection on broader concerns.

“This is something that has to be addressed on a base level: Who is distributing projects, what kinds of stories are being written, what kind of roles are people of all colors being allowed to have,” he said. “You have to try to find a way to change that equation, and we’re living in a time when equations can be changed.”

Photo

King’s first full-length album, “We Are King.”

“We Are King”

(King Creative)

King is a tribute band, in a way, but not to one artist’s work. It’s three women channeling a specific spirit and a method of romantic, introspective, positive and harmonically sophisticated R&B.

That might not sound like a high priority, if your understanding of the value of current R&B is predicated on how well it subverts or reframes its roots — as singers from many strata of pop have been doing, from Kelela and Dev Hynes to Drake and his heirs. So it helps actually to hear “We Are King,” the band’s first full record after a 2011 EP, and let its details work on you a bit. I mean all of it: This is a record that works in aggregate and assumes that you have time.

Even in its gentleness, with mildly Afro-futuristic lyrics about journeys and persistence and love, “We Are King” is pretty stubborn. It isn’t making a leaner, blurrier or more gratification-delaying R&B — it gratifies from beginning to end — nor is it annexing hip-hop’s beats or essences. It’s not a provocation on the ramparts of contemporary aesthetics; it’s not a 2016 revision of R&B, particularly. It’s a musicians’ album, going deeper into the strategies of a strain of R&B that might begin with Stevie Wonder’s “Music of My Mind” (1972) and continue through Patrice Rushen’s “Straight From the Heart” (1982), as well as any number of Prince ballads and Luther Vandross party songs.

Given all that, I’m not sure how the record manages to evade the feeling of fetishizing the past. (The members of King — the twin sisters Paris and Anita Strother, and Anita Bias — wrote and produced the album, with Paris playing all the instruments, except for guitar and horns. But self-producing artists can be fetishizers, too.) Part of it has to do with hard work: stirring chord changes, analog synthesizers, bits of jazz and gospel, luxurious slow tempos and hypnosis built through a refrain over bulbous synth tones, as they do in “The Right One” and “Supernatural” and “The Story.” But part of it must have to do with their intent. King seems trend-agnostic: making music that isn’t demonstrably new, but doing it in a way that isn’t demonstrably old.

51st Annual Academy of Country Music Awards nominees announced

The nominees for the 51st Annual Academy of Country Music Awards were announced on Mon., Feb. 1. First time co-host for the ACM’s, Dierks Bentley joined Nancy O’Dell on CBS Morning to announce six of the categories live. Bentley was thrilled to read his own name as a nominee for Male Vocalist and Video of the Year, and fellow co-host Luke Bryan received nominations for Entertainer of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year.

Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images

The leading nominee is Eric Church, who received five nominations, including Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist, Album of the Year (“Mr. Misunderstood”), Video of the Year (“Mr. Misunderstood”) and Vocal Event with Keith Urban for “Raise ‘em Up.”

Chris Young, Little Big Town and Chris Stapleton all earned four nominations, while Miranda Lambert, Thomas Rhett and first-time nomineesCam and Chris Janson each had three nominations.

The full list of categories and nominees follows.

Entertainer of the Year

Jason Aldean
Garth Brooks
Luke Bryan
Eric Church
Miranda Lambert

Male Vocalist of the Year

Jason Aldean
Dierks Bentley
Eric Church
Brett Eldredge
Chris Stapleton

Female Vocalist of the Year

Kelsea Ballerini
Jana Kramer
Miranda Lambert
Kacey Musgraves
Carrie Underwood

Vocal Duo of the Year

Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Joey + Rory
Maddie & Tae

Vocal Group of the Year

Eli Young Band
Little Big Town
Old Dominion
Rascal Flatts
Zac Brown Band

Album of the Year

“Mr. Misunderstood” - Eric Church
“Montevallo” - Sam Hunt
“Tangled Up” - Thomas Rhett
“Traveller” - Chris Stapleton
“I’m Comin’ Over” - Chris Young

New Male Vocalist of the Year

Brett Eldredge
Chris Janson
Thomas Rhett
Chase Rice
Chris Stapleton

New Female Vocalist of the Year

Kelsea Ballerini
Cam
Mickey Guyton
RaeLynn

New Vocal Duo or Group of the Year

A Thousand Horses
Brothers Osborne
Maddie & Tae
Old Dominion
Parmalee

Video of the Year (Awarded to Producer(s) / Director(s) / Artist(s))

“Biscuits,” Kacey Musgraves (Director: Mark Klasfeld / Producer: Nicole Acacio)
“Burning House,” Cam (Director: Trey Fanjoy / Producer: Trent Hardville)
“Girl Crush,” Little Big Town (Director: Karla Welch and Matthew Welch / Producer: Amanda Prunesti)
“Mr. Misunderstood,” Eric Church (Director: Reid Long and John Peets / Producer: Megan Smith)
“Riser,” Dierks Bentley (Director: Wes Edwards / Producer: Jennifer Rothlein)

Vocal Event of the Year (Awarded to Artist(s) / Producer(s) / Record Label(s))

“Hangover Tonight,” Gary Allan feat. Chris Stapleton (Producer: Gary Allan, Greg Droman / Record Label: MCA Nashville)
“Home Alone Tonight,” Luke Bryan feat. Karen Fairchild (Producers: Jeff Stevens, Jody Stevens / Record Label: Capitol Nashville)
“Raise ‘Em Up,” Keith Urban feat. Eric Church (Producers: Nathan Chapman, Keith Urban / Record Label: Hit Red, Capitol Nashville)
“Smokin’ and Drinkin’,” Miranda Lambert feat. Little Big Town (Producers: Chuck Ainlay, Frank Liddell, Glenn Worf / Record Label: RCA Nashville)
“Wild Child,” Kenny Chesney with Grace Potter (Producer: Buddy Cannon, Kenny Chesney / Record Label: Blue Chair, Columbia Nashville)

Single Record of the Year (Awarded to Artist(s) / Producer(s) / Record Label(s))

“Burning House,” Cam
“Buy Me a Boat,” Chris Janson
“Die a Happy Man,” Thomas Rhett
“Girl Crush,” Little Big Town
“I’m Comin’ Over,” Chris Young
“Take Your Time,” Sam Hunt

Nominees for Song of the Year and Songwriter of the Year will be announced in the coming weeks.

The 51st Annual ACM Awards will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 1, 2016 on the CBS television network.

John Oates to Join Miguel and Win Butler for Superstar Jam PoWow! at Okeechobee

'Hee Haw: Kornfield Klassics' DVD Review

'Hee Haw: Kornfield Klassics'

Rating: 4 and a half stars

'The Carol Burnett Show: Treasures From The Vault' DVD Review

'The Carol Burnett Show: Treasures From The Vault'

Rating: 5 Stars

O’Neal, MacGraw revisit youthful ‘Love’

In return to campus, a look back at film that made them stars

February 2, 2016 | Editor's Pick Popular

CMT ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR DRAMA SERIES ABOUT EARLY CAREERS OF ELVIS & JOHNNY CASH

Photo credit: Perfect Posters and Pics via Amazon.com

On Wednesday (Feb. 3),

CMT made the announcement that it has started plans to produce a drama series along with Thinkfactory Media that will focus on the early careers of Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. The limited, eight episode series coordinates with the 60th anniversary of the "Million Dollar Quartet" Sun Records jam session between Elvis, Johnny, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins in December 1956 and will be based on the musical named after it. On a larger scale, the series will document the rise of rock 'n' roll and the part that Elvis and Johnny played in its growth. CMT kicked off its nationwide casting search for the series the same day as the announcement. They are looking to fill the roles of a young Elvis and Johnny, as well as B.B. King, Ike Turner, and other characters. The company's president, Brian Phillips, spoke about the casting process to Variety: "The characters are all larger-than-life, so casting is a daunting challenge, but we’re counting on the magic of Memphis to come alive again! This is among our most ambitious projects ever..." Thinkfactory Media is also looking forward to producing the series, and believes that it's the perfect fit for CMT. "At Thinkfactory Media, we pride ourselves in finding, developing and delivering products that fit the networks we work with," said Thinkfactory Media CEO and founder Leslie Greif, "and 'Million Dollar Quartet' is perfectly suited for CMT because of its deep ties to country music and Nashville." After the roles are cast in the series, CMT plans to to start production in Memphis this spring. Tune in below to listen to a short recording from Elvis and Johnny's iconic jam session with Jerry Lee and Carl that became known as the "Million Dollar Quartet." Read more at: https://tr.im/M8ztG

R.I.P. famed MFSB guitarist TJ Tindall

NEW MUSIC: JHENÉ AIKO – B’S & H’S

Posted on January 24th, 2016 by Ni'Kesia in MUSIC |

Could a new album be on the way from Jhené Aiko? Seems like it with the release of her new song “B’s & H’s“!

Debuting the track during Beats 1 “Soulection” on Saturday, the singer holds it down one time for the ladies as she calls out the fellas for their lack of appreciation for women. Produced by The Fisticuffs, Jhené promises that you gone f*ck around and find out as she sings, “What type of sh*t you be doin? / That’s some weak sh*t that you on / These bitches don’t got no feelings, they don’t got no senses, they don’t got no soul / You know that I’m right and you know that you wrong.”

A smooth new track to lead us into what Jhené will be bringing with her new material, “B’s & H’s” will definitely be on our list of replays.

BRIAN MCKNIGHT – BETTER

Posted on February 3rd, 2016 by ThisIsRnB in GROWN & SEXY, VIDEOS |

Brian McKnight follows up the video for “Uh Oh Feeling” with the visuals for the title track off his forthcoming 12th studio album Better.

McKnight is not only getting ‘better’ with age, but also with life, love and music – a journey echoed in the sounds and lyrics of his most heartfelt album to date. “I’m taking it back to basics,” McKnight explains of the new album. “Creating music like we did 20 years ago – completely organic, all real instruments.”

Simplicity holds true on the romantic ballad as McKnight sings about the benefits of an everlasting relationship.

“Girl, ever since you walked into my life / You took everything that’s wrong and made it right, that’s what you did,” he sings in the black-and-white visuals set backstage and during a show rehearsal.

NEW MUSIC: TINASHE – RIDE OF YOUR LIFE

Posted on February 2nd, 2016 by ThisIsRnB in MUSIC |

After grabbing all our attention with her sexy Complex photo shoot, Tinashe makes good use of the press and drops the brand new single “Ride Of Your Life” produced by Metro Boomin.

Channeling a sing rap flow, the 22-year-old confidently handles the slinky, eerie production delivering a boastful and bossy persona. Promising special lasting memories with a lover, she gives literal meaning to the title Ride or Die Chick.

“Just ride with me, we gon’ hit the streets / Take you on the ride of your life…I’ll take you on the ride of your life / We can do it here on the passenger side,” sings Tinashe.

On February 28, she will kick off the North American leg of her “Joyride World Tour” in Minneapolis. Her anticipated sophomore album Joyride, which has already spawned the song “Energy” featuring Juicy J, the Chris Brown-assisted single “Player,” and “Party Favors” with Young Thug, is expected this spring.

THIRST TRAP ALERT: TINASHE SIZZLES ON FEBRUARY COMPLEX COVER

Posted on February 2nd, 2016 by ThisIsRnB in INTERVIEWS, MAGAZINES, PHOTOS |

Good Lord! Tinashe got us again!

Landing her first magazine cover of 2016, underground favorite turned R&B vixen, Tinashe, is heating up the pages of Complex for their February/March 2016 issue.

“This is definitely a racy photo shoot,” the singer told the magazine. “This is probably one of my racier ones. The only other one that could rival this shoot is my Playboy shoot but I think this one’s actually hotter.”

Tinashe, who’s readying her sophomore album Joyride, whets appetites with the eye-popping pics—she sips from a crazy straw (while showing underboob), drifts in a punch bowl, and climbs out of a glass of ice water.

“With this cover in particular, as opposed to others that I’ve done in the past, I definitely had a little bit more fun, which was cool,” she said. “We got to shoot some stuff that was really colorful and lighthearted. I had a little bit more creative control than I normally have so I had a really, really great time on this shoot.”

See more sizzling hot pics and read excerpts from the interview below.

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ON THE STATUS OF ‘JOYRIDE’: “I would’ve said 95 percent, but now I’m going back to 80 percent. Rethinking some things in the 11th hour.”

ON RECORDING THE ALBUM IN HER CHILDHOOD BEDROOM: “It’s a place for my solitude. I’m very comfortable here. I can be pure inspiration here, and not be affected by any other factor, whether that’s a producer or anyone else’s opinion. It also makes me feel like I’m the same person I was before I had any level of success, which was when I was the most inspired creatively.”

ON SONGWRITING: “I matured faster. I’ve always been able to tap into the storytelling aspect of writing. As an artist you’re allowed to create stories that aren’t so literal to your life. I’m able to take stories that my friends have gone through, things I’ve witnessed, secondhand accounts, and narrate that.”

ON NOT HAVING A PLAN B: “I have no Plan B. I’ve set this up so that my entire life is based on this, and if this fails I have nothing else. No career options. No life options. I’ve sacrificed so much for this; failure is so beyond an option. There can only be setbacks. It’ll eventually work because it can’t not work. And it’s never a fully hopeless situation, because I’ll always have some support.”

ON MIDDLE SCHOOL: “When I was in middle school and everybody didn’t like me. I’d wonder, ‘What am I doing wrong?’ Because it’s hard not to feel like it’s a reflection of what I’m doing wrong. You have to try to remember that that’s not always the case. That it’s not always a reflection on you.”

ON DATING IN HIGH SCHOOL: “As far as the guys go, nobody wanted to like me or date me. They’d talk to me in secret and then at school they’d ignore me. Literally ignore me to my face. And psychologically that messes with you. It makes you feel that you must be genuinely unattractive if this person doesn’t want anyone to know that you even talk. That’s bad.”

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

(Photos by Sarah McColgan)

USHER, FUTURE, LEON BRIDGES TO HEADLINE 9TH ANNUAL ROOTS PICNIC

Posted on February 2nd, 2016 by ThisIsRnB in NEWS |

The Roots are bringing the stars to Philly. The Roots Picnic is back for the ninth year with a star-studded roster that includes Usher, Leon Bridges, and Future, who will be backed by the Legendary Crew.

This year’s lineup, which was announced by Broad City, also includes Kehlani, Blood Orange, Jidenna, Migos, Willow Smith, Anderson Paak and more, who will all hit the Festival Pier in Philadelphia on Saturday, June 4. Billed as the “biggest Roots Picnic yet,” the 23 performances will take place across three stages.

“We are excited that the Picnic is growing each year,” said Roots Picnic co-founder Shawn Gee. “We are laser focused on building an amazing fan experience and continuing to build a diverse lineup that matches the collective tastes and interests of the curators, Questlove and Black Thought of the Legendary Roots Crew. This year is going to be a lot of fun!”

Last year’s lineup included The Weeknd, Erykah Badu, A$AP Rocky, Rae Sremmurd, and DJ Mustard, while John Legend, Janelle Monáe, Nas, Kid Cudi, and Public Enemy have performed in previous years.

Tickets go on sale Friday, Feb. 5 at noon. Check out the full lineup below.

NEW MUSIC: CHRISETTE MICHELE – SAY IT (TORY LANEZ REMIX)

Posted on February 2nd, 2016 by ThisIsRnB in MUSIC |

Chrisette Michele has a big year ahead of her. While she is planning her wedding, the soulful singer is also finishing up the work on her next album titled Milestone, which is due out this spring.

Surprising fans today, Chrisette wets our palettes with a smooth remix to Tory Lanez breakout hit single “Say It” which samples Brownstone’s classic “If You Love Me.” The remix is the first release off Chrisette’s upcoming mixtape, Steady Gang Mix, which is set to drop on February 27.

Queen Latifah, Viola Davis, Uzo Aduba, Idris Elba & More Take Over The Red Carpet At 2016 SAG Awards

Kerry Washington Talks Pressures Women Face In Entertainment Weekly Issue + Zendaya Covers NEW YOU Magazine, Opens Up About Excessive Photoshopping

Confessions: MC Lyte

Posted by UPTOWN on Feb 2, 2016

By Satchel B. Jester

Merriam-Webster offers “something that enlightens or informs” as the definition of “light.” The strength and meaning of the word also became the basis that MC Lyte would fuel her career with, giving us over two decades (and counting) of music and well-calculated moves. Now, fresh off the inaugural presentation of her W.E.A.L.T.H. Experience retreat for women, the legendary lyricist, DJ, philanthropist and hip-hop pioneer is putting more MVP points on the board, making history via The White House, supporting the education of black men and starting most days before 6 a.m. Here, she swaps her headphones for a smart phone and chats about the power of the Lyte.

My first … album is 28 years old this year. Crazy.

My days are … strategic. I’m up during the 5 a.m. hour for prayer, meditation and exercise. I then grab coffee and dive into meetings and phone calls. At some point, I’ll do a “Lyte Mix” for Café Mocha, the radio show I’ve co-hosted for about five years and then knock the remainder of my to-do list out like a pro.

Being where I am now … with my journey, I’m able to look at what it means to be an artist from the viewpoint of having a genuine love for it and getting the passion out there, but also laying a foundation that can propel you into a lifelong journey of benefits. Not just personal capital, but also being able to hire people and keep them working and add to their livelihood.

My passion lies … in educating and uplifting tomorrow’s black leaders. After visiting Dilliard University and awarding two yearly $100,000 scholarships to young women, we introduced “Educate Our Men,” a scholarship platform for men attending HBCUs. To date, we’ve given away about six $50,000 awards. Education is key in all formats.

I’ve been called … the “Godmother in Hip-Hop” in an introduction before performing at “A Celebration of American Creativity: In Performance at the White House.” It was surreal to be the first female rapper to perform there, not to mention witnessing FLOTUS and POTUS rocking in their seats to Cha, Cha, Cha.

As a DJ … I’ve learned to be much more accepting of hip-hop than when I was just an artist. It’s about understanding the time that we’re in. I now know that when you make music you cannot just consider yourself. Everything counts. The meaning of music has changed as far as listening to it. It dictates lifestyle like never before.

I’m a firm believer that … I can do it all, just not at the same time.

I haven’t … spit a freestyle verse since I got my first check. This style ain’t free.

JOE RELEASES NEW VIDEO “OUR ANTHEM”

Posted on February 1st, 2016 by ThisIsRnB in VIDEOS |

In honor of Black History Month, R&B veteran JOE has released a new video for a song he has titled “Our Anthem.”

A soulful and reflective track, with socially conscious visuals, the multi-Grammy nominated artist starts out singing The Star Spangled Banner and later borrows from Otis Redding’s classic, “Try A Little Tenderness.” Taking a stand to help improve our relations with one another, Joe simply asks, “Is this red white and blue, or black brown and white? / Ask yourself, is it wrong, or is it right?”

Along with the release he shared a short message, “Sometimes a walk and a little reflection helps put things into perspective! THIS IS “OUR ANTHEM”! #OURANTHEM #TENDERNESS w/love from me to you Black History Month!”

JOE is currently working on his next album, the follow-up to 2014’s Bridges, which is expected to be released later this year.

EHLANI COVERS ILY MAGAZINE, TALKS LOVE, RELATIONSHIP WITH KYRIE IRVING & MORE

Posted on February 1st, 2016 by ThisIsRnB in INTERVIEWS, MAGAZINES, PHOTOS |

With a big year ahead of her in 2016, buzzing artist Kehlani lands her first cover of the year with new publication ILY, a digital magazine dedicated to love.

The 20-year-old Bay Area native is all about love, through her music and mostly through her personality Kehlani expresses a passionate love for everything from creativity and uniqueness to family, friendships, and actual lovers. She makes the perfect candidate for the first digital cover of ILY.

In her conversation with founder Erika Ramirez, the singer opens up about many aspects of love, her new relationship with Cleveland Cavaliers star Kyrie Irving, being emotional on social media, and much more.

Read some excerpts from the interview and see more photos below.

ON HOW YOU KNOW YOU’RE FALLING IN LOVE: You catch yourself trying to almost say it, all the time. You have to stop yourself, like, “I love…tomatoes.” You know what I mean? There’s so many sides, but it’s different with every person. I think that when you know, you know. There’s no timing on it. You’ll just say it. I think if you’re really in love with them, then you know. That kind of feeling exists whether or not they say it back.

FIRST LEARNING ABOUT LOVE: That’s the thing: I didn’t know anything. Nobody in my family’s married. I have never been to a wedding. My grandpa is married, but it’s all single women in my family. I’ve never seen an example of real love, besides in the movies and books and what I imagined things to be… I’ve hoped that in the absence of love, in the absence of seeing it, that I’ve learned more. I don’t have parents that have been married for 30 years and they’re an example and blah, blah, blah. What I missed influenced what I want to have.

ON RELATIONSHIP WITH KYRIE IRVING: Am I in love? No, no, no, no, no. [Laughs]It’s very early. He definitely makes me very happy. I’ve taken it day by day, and enjoying every little bit. I think I’m trying not to get too excited or get too crazy about the hype of everything.

ON RELATIONSHIP WITH HER MOTHER: The love I have for her, and everyone related to me, is completely unconditional no matter what they go through. I understand [that] everything involving drugs and alcohol is technically an illness. It’s not like someone woke up and was like, “I don’t want to take care of my kids. I don’t want do this.” Sometimes things work out in a crazy way. I definitely have unconditional love for her, because she birthed me and she is my mother. I think we’re just working on building everything back up, you know, being that I have little siblings and things like that. I like to just keep everything as positive as possible. If I can love someone while they’re on this earth, why not?

BEING EMOTIONAL ON SOCIAL MEDIA: I’m still very emotional via social media. But, as far as social media, I think I’ve learned to only say things that could possibly be transferable to other people in forms of lessons, rather than making it so personal to where people can’t relate.

ON LOVE IN NEW MUSIC: Being in a situation that finally feels right will be shown in my music. It’s funny, every time at the start of a relationship, I’ve always been able to find problems, but I haven’t found any problems over here. It’s off to a very awesome start. You can tell how happy I am in my new stuff. I’m happy, and he’s blushing on FaceTime. [Laughs]

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

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(Photos by David Camarena)

SILK – LOVE 4 U 2 LIKE ME

Posted on January 30th, 2016 by ThisIsRnB in GROWN & SEXY, VIDEOS |

Veteran R&B group Silk have delivered the visual for their comeback single “Love 4 U 2 Like Me.”

It’s been 10 years since their last LP, 2006’s Always & Forever, and the smooth record finds the group in great form.

“I think ‘Love 4 U 2 Like Me’ was the right reintroduction for Silk,” said Gary “Big G” Glenn. “It’s a classic song and true to what we value now–thinking of ways to impress your woman, asking for little and giving a lot in return. We’re not abandoning our formula as far as love-making music goes…we are just acknowledging that foreplay is necessary and not so spoken about these days.”

“Love 4 U 2 Like Me” is the lead single off their forthcoming album Quiet Storm, due out March 18.

Meagan Good & DeVon Franklin Hit The Promo Trail + Blac Chyna Has "Future" Tattoo Removed + Tyga & Kylie Jenner Dine In Hollywood

Feb 01 | by _YBF

Meagan Good and DeVon Franklin are on a press tour to promote their upcoming book “The Wait.” Meanwhile, Blac Chynagot her "Future" tattoo removed, while Tyga was spotted on a dinner date with his girlfriend Kylie Jenner. Pics inside….

One of our fave YBF couples is making media rounds to promote their new relationship book.

New “Code Black” star Meagan Good and her filmmaker/preacher husband DeVon Franklin are in NYC to talk about their upcoming book they co-wrote titled The Wait: A Powerful Practice for Finding the Love of Your Life and the Life You Love, which is expected to hit newsstands tomorrow (Feb. 2nd).

The twosome first hit up “CBS This Morning” to explain why they think abstaining from sex is the key to a successful relationship. DeVon broke down the difference between celibacy and abstinence. He explains celibacy as having a purpose, abstaining from sex with a purpose. Abstinence is just not having sex.

The former “Minority Report” star also addressed those who judged her when she revealed she was waiting to have sex with DeVon until they were married.

NEW MUSIC: TESSANNE CHIN – LOVE SUICIDE

Posted on January 30th, 2016 by Rocki in MUSIC |

Sultry Jamaican siren Tessanne Chin continues to surpass her status as the fifth season winner of “The Voice” with the premiere of her new single, “Love Suicide.” As the smoke clears from her sizzling single, “Fire,” Chin delivers a fervently intense ballad that is reminiscent of back in the day, Mary J. Blige.

With a head nodding bassline peppered by a lively piano, this joint is the perfect soundscape for boundless love. Chin fearlessly goes all out as she sings, “If you’re the ledge then I’m jumping / Don’t catch me if I fall just let me plummet.”

She bravely admits that “Love Suicide” represents a soulful, sexy but edgy side to her. “I love the concept of giving your being completely over to love and surrendering yourself to this emotion. I feel that everything from the production to the lyrics to the melody supports that feeling and paints that picture perfectly,” she explains.

As the first “The Voice” contestant to hit #1 two times on the iTunes chart and #4 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart with her debut album, Count On My Love, Tessanne has transcended from merely a voice into a full fledged presence.

DALEY ANNOUNCES COMEBACK IN NEW MUSIC TEASER

Posted on January 20th, 2016 by ThisIsRnB in NEWS |

It’s been quite some time since we’ve heard anything new from UK soul singer Daley, in fact 2015 flew by without a word. But, it looks like 2016 will be his comeback, as he has made an official announcement with the release of a video teaser.

Set with shades of blue and black, the shadowy clip features Daley at a mic, with two accompanying musicians, as a twinkling track featuring his signature falsetto plays in the background.

No official date is revealed, but expect to hear new music very soon, accompanied by a U.S. tour in February.

Check out the teaser and tour dates below.

DALEY U.S. TOUR DATES:

Feb 11 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
Feb 12 – Detroit, MI – The Loving Touch
Feb 13 – Columbus, OH – The A&R Music Bar
Feb 15 – Washington, DC – The Howard Theatre
Feb 16 – New York, NY – The Marlin Room at Webster Hall
Feb 17 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
Feb 19 – Charlotte, NC – Visulite Theatre
Feb 20 – Atlanta, GA – Center Stage
Feb 22 – Orlando, FL – The Social
Feb 23 – New Orleans, LA – House of Blues
Feb 24 – Houston, TX – Warehouse Live Studio
Feb 25 – Dallas, TX – The Majestic Theatre
Feb 27 – San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
Feb 29 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre

Monica Brown: A Hustler’s Ambition

Posted by UPTOWN on Jan 26, 2016

Monica Brown is no rookie to the game—whether its R&B tales of heartache or real-life woes, she’s been up and down and everything in between. She’s now a mother of three and a basketball wife, but don’t let the stability fool you. Even with the current success of her eighth studio album, Code Red, she’s hungry for more and has never felt quite as resilient. It’s time to get reacquainted with everybody’s favorite homegirl.

BY SATCHEL B. JESTER | PHOTOGRAPHY BY DREXINA NELSON | STYLING BY SHUN MELSON | HAIR BY RAY DODSON | FACE BY MARSHA SAINTIL

STELLA MCCARTNEY, NEIMAN MARCUS ATLANTA GOWN

“People wouldn’t really be able to imagine the things I’ve seen and been through,” says Monica Brown, in response to the suggestion that she’s guarded. Never one to shy away from a challenge or discomfort, the singer jumps right in. “My talent has always been there, along with the spiritual foundation my mother laid, but there was always another side, a side that belonged to the streets. When my parents divorced, I became two different people.”

I first met Monica Denise Arnold in 1991, when we were both students at North Clayton Middle School. And the two sides of her persona were evident then. She was an older soul, “grown-acting” as we say in the South. Today, as we speak at the photo shoot for this cover, I notice that Monica, 35, has not changed that much since we first met in junior high school. She’s always flaunted a bravado that was undeniably more massive than her featherweight frame. From a presence that dominated our neighborhood school bus, to singular vocal ability that filled our school’s gymnasium as powerfully as the coterie of Friday night cheers, Monica has always been an amalgam of confidence and power in motion. But, there’s an indescribable element about Monica that can draw someone in, but also keep them at a specific distance as if to protect her aura. She’s the girl next door, yet an enigma all the same. Both her fans and critics easily champion her success, while in the same breath roll off a list of what she should’ve or could’ve done. But, make no mistake, Monica is absolutely conscious of her winning. It all began with a young girl audacious enough to introduce herself to the world as “Miss Thang.”

The year is 1995 and a 15-year-old Monica Denise Arnold is at the moment of reckoning. Although she isn’t quite old enough to attain a driver’s license, she does not mind calling the shots with her producer Dallas Austin, who is already a stamped superstar for his multi-platinum success with Boyz II Men, TLC and Madonna. They were working tirelessly at Austin’s D.A.R.P. studios, placing the final touches on what would become her triple-platinum debut album, Miss Thang. The project’s three-year developmental period transformed her from a wide-eyed and power-piped College Park, GA innocent, into the feisty and focused fireball, who would become the South’s newest MVP.

The album’s title track declared how she wanted to be recognized:

“Couldn’t wait to understand, I grew up faster than the rest/ it affected the ways of my attitude /but don’t take it as I’m rude/ Now, I’m fly as I can be/ got responsibilities/but I know when I’m right, I’m right/and when I’m wrong as I can be.”

SMYTHE, NORDSTROM ATLANTA BLAZER

Twenty-one years later, Monica only remembers just being herself. “Dallas would bring producers in the studio to play records for me and I’d be quick to say ‘No’ if I didn’t feel it. I knew who I was and what I wanted to say.” She pauses and smiles. “That’s where ‘Miss Thang’ came from. He’d say, ‘Miss Thang don’t like it!’” She laughs, but only for a second, as she instinctively reverts back to her signature steeliness.

Monica has never been one to lurk in the past, but she also refuses to gloss over the pivotal moments of her journey. Often paved with violence, death and steady tears, her experiences have been, at times, arguably too intense for someone her age at the time. However, she showed up, smiled and sang while attempting to hold fast to being music’s promising new darling.

Aside from “normal” occurrences such as opening a door and witnessing heads being bashed in or having a front row seat to the the drug game, there was the arrest of her first love Corey Miller (brother of Master P), allegedly for murder and the suicide death of her next beau, which she witnessed. But, she knows the tragedy and her ultimate triumph all occurred for reasons bigger than her.

“As I think back over everything I’ve accomplished in my career—the awards, opportunities and exposure are all there, of course. But, what gives me unspeakable joy is the fact that I’ve touched countless women, and some young men, along the way with my music and my message,” she says with a blend of pragmatism and passion. “To know that I was helping to save lives while feeling like my own was in the process of ending, means more than any manufactured victory ever could.”

SHUNMELSON.COM BLACK SHEER SKIRT, DONNA KAREN SAKS ATLANTA BLACK BODYSUIT, GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI ATLANTA GIUSEPPE BLACK SHOES, ALEXIS BITAR NORDSTROM ATLANTA GOLD NECKLACE

Our chat is interrupted as the singer is pulled away for a quick wardrobe fitting. Hair tied, chilling with no makeup on, Rodney (10), Romelo (8) and Laiyah’s (2) mom looks as fresh-faced as she did decades ago in the black-and-white, Rich Murray-directed Don’t Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days) video. As she peruses the rack of clothes pulled for today’s cover shoot, she’s quiet, yet confident. She eyes a few matching, paired pieces and disapproves. “It’s too baby doll and I don’t do baby doll,“ she informs. The small collection of meaningful tattoos placed carefully around her body are colorful proof. Another look is referenced as one she’s recently seen on the runway, another concept she’s also no stranger to. During her long career, the leggy, 5’10”, sample-sized dame has donned exclusive couture, pumped down runways around the world and was a muse of Chanel’s Karl Lagerfield pre-Rita Ora, Kendall Jenner and Janelle Monae. “I’ve been there and done that,” she says easily, but impressively, without a hint of jadedness. “I remember speaking with Karl and him telling me what ‘we’ were going to wear, and what his thoughts for me were. I’ve had moments that some [will not recognize] because social media wasn’t a thing back then. They weren’t done for the ‘Gram, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t happen.”

Monica’s now seated at the well-lit vanity and the primping and polishing is yet again underway. In the midst of the beauty process, I transition to a subject that could potentially get ugly—the tendency for people to deem her an underdog.

“I know people have called me the underdog,” Monica says. “I was even told the kiss of death would be the four years I took off after the birth of my boys,” she begins. “I’ve executed my career exactly how I’ve wanted to and that’s the most important thing. And if I am an underdog because I’ve chosen to put my family first, to be guided by my spirituality or allow true love to be my solace, then so be it.”

Monica’s phone rings with an incoming Face-Time call from her husband of six years, NBA player Shannon Brown. “Hey babe,” she answers, her eyes glowing brighter than her snowy white teeth. They discuss Romelo’s coming birthday and the exciting surprise gift they’re giving him. She feels my stare and looks my way, “We try not to go overboard,” she says to possibly downplay the oft presented “celebrities spoil their kids” notion. I smile in acknowledgement and leave the room.

Don’t Call It A Comeback: Deborah Cox Is Staging A 2016 Takeover

Posted by UPTOWN on Jan 21, 2016

With a bevy of new projects, Deborah Cox is staging a New Year takeover.

By Annika Harris

2016 will be a whirlwind year for Deborah Cox. The multiplatinum R&B recording artist and actress is set to take the Broadway stage in the role of Josephine Baker in Josephine (Asolo Rep-ertory Theatre, April 2016), a musical produced by two-time Tony Award-winner Kenneth Waissman; she will step into Whitney Houston’s shoes starring as Rachel Marron in the touring musical adaptation of The Bodyguard (Fall 2016); and the Grammy-nominated artist will release her first studio album in seven years: Work of Art (early-2016).

Cox will portray Baker from a significant period in the legend’s life—1938 through 1945—and she wants to reveal her true nature. “A lot of people know [her] as the woman with the banana skirt, but they’ll get a chance to understand her complexities [and learn] that what she had to do to get there is fascinating.”

Regarding the inevitable comparisons to Houston’s portrayal of Rachel Marron, the role the late entertainer made iconic in 1992’s The Bodyguard, Cox says she’s been dealing with comparisons to the late entertainer since she entered the industry and she’s not worried about that. Instead, the multi-hyphenate, who made her Broadway debut in Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida, is focused on the music and the story. “When people heard of me stepping into this role, there was extra excitement to be able to hear these songs live, in a musical setting and that part of it is exciting,” she explains.

Fans of Cox’s sound will be pleased to hear that “classic Deborah Cox” will return for Work of Art, which she says will be all about the vocals. “I pride myself on being a vocalist that can pare down and be flat-footed and just sing!”

What to Watch Tonight: Nina Dobrev on Lip Sync Battle, Rosie O'Donnell on Mom, and the Season Finale of Project Runway: Junior

[Edited 2/4/16 8:20am]

The Monkees are cutting a new album with tracks by Rivers Cuomo, Noel Gallagher, Ben Gibbard and moreDave J Hogan/Getty

This summer marks the 50th anniversary of the Monkees' television series and the release of their debut single "Last Train To Clarksville," and the group will celebrate by releasing their new album Good Times! and embarking on an extensive North American tour. The album is the Monkees' first collection of original material since 1997's JustUs, and it will feature new songs by Noel Gallagher, Rivers Cuomo, Ben Gibbard and many more. Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne serves as producer on the new LP.

Good Times! also features a handful of songs written for the Monkees back in the 1960s that they never got around to releasing, including Neil Diamond's "Love to Love," Carole King's "Wasn't Born To Follow" and Mike Nesmith's "I Know What I Know." The title track was written by Harry Nilsson and cut at a 1968 session with Mike Nesmith on guitar, though never finished. The group plans to flesh out the tune, turning it into a virtual duet between Nilsson and Monkees singer Micky Dolenz.

The Monkees returned from a decade-long hiatus in 2011 when the three-man lineup of Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork and Davy Jones reunited for a 45th anniversary tour. Jones died of a sudden heart attack early the following year, and months later the group stunned fans by hitting the road with Mike Nesmith, who sat out nearly all Monkees reunion tours since the group split in 1971. The lineup of Nesmith/Tork/Dolenz played a series of American shows through the summer of 2014, though last year Nesmith stepped aside yet again and Dolenz and Tork began gigging without him. "Mike has a lot of other arrows in his quiver," says Dolenz. "For starters, he runs a big business. He's also writing a book, which was the specific reason he gave me for not wanting to leave town again for any particular length of time."

Talk of a 50th anniversary Monkees project began a couple of years ago. The group's trademark is owned by Rhino, and they oversee the release of all Monkees reissues (both the music and TV series) and they license out the name so they can use it on tour. "There have been some recent personnel changes at Rhino and the incoming personnel were very, very pro and positive about the Monkees," says Dolenz. "[Rhino executives] John Hughes and Mark Pinkus both said they wanted us to make a new album, and they spelled out the exact kind of album that would go down well with the 50th anniversary and with our fans."

Adam Schlesinger was hired to produce the disc, and songwriters all over the world were approached about submitting tunes for the group to cut. "I'm not a big music listener outside of Frank Sinatra during martini hour," says Dolenz. "But I began doing research and I realized that the whole indie rock scene is all about recapturing that 1960s jangly guitar sound of the Monkees, amongst many other groups, of course. One reason we don't have a final track listing yet is because once we put the word out all these people said they wanted to get involved."

The album has a hard release date of June 10th, though right now Schlesinger is busy creating music for the CW show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and formal recording sessions have yet to begin. "We've been talking a lot back and forth and sharing music via Dropbox," says Dolenz. "It's coming together fast, which isn't a bad thing since it forces you to make decisions. My job is just to come in and sing lead vocals. It's no different than the old days when we had to get everything done in three-hour sessions because that was the limit of the musician's union."

Right now, he's focused on wrapping his head around the new songs. "We all agree that the lyrics in the Rivers Cuomo song needed to be aged up a little but," Dolenz says. "It sounds like it's about a little girl and I'm 70 years old, so Rivers is re-writing the lyrics." Noel Gallagher is still crafting lyrics for his contribution, though Dolenz says that Ben Gibbard's song "Me & Magdalena" and Zach Rogue's tune "Terrifying" are both in and ready to go. "They're all keeping with our sensibility," says Dolenz. "I just keep calling it that jangly guitar pop sound, though I used to call it 'progressive bubblegum.'"

The Monkees in 1965. Dezo Hoffmann/REX

As of now, there's no formal plans for Mike Nesmith to contribute any guitar or vocal parts. "I don't know what's going to happen with that," he says. "Frankly, we don't even have a recording schedule right now!" Peter Tork, however, will definitely be on hand to record vocals and likely play guitar and possibly the banjo on some of the songs. Davy Jones' voice will be heard on Neil Diamond's "Love To Love," which the group cut in the 1960s. "I'm hoping to do harmonies on that," says Dolenz. "But I haven't spoken to Adam about that in any great detail."

The tour kicks off on May 18th in Fort Myers, Florida and runs though October 29th in Shippensburg, PA, though more dates may be added. The group expects to play some new songs, though the show will revolve around their deep catalog of classics. "I've always felt it was important to give the audience what they want," says Dolenz, "which is the hits. Peter and I do a lovely acoustic portion of the show, like we're sitting around a campfire. Our vocal blend has become very, very interesting."

They plan on performing many songs that originally featured Mike Nesmith on lead vocals, though he won't be on the tour. "He's always invited," says Dolenz. "And at times he has blessed us with his presence. I don't see him going on the road, and certainly not for the whole grueling thing. I sure hope he does show up at some point and sing a couple of songs with us."

The Monkees' heyday lasted little more than three years, and nobody is more shocked than the members of the band that they're still around for the 50th anniversary. "Here I am, 70 years old," says Dolenz. "How the hell did that happen? But I'm more excited for this album and tour than I've been for anything in a long time."

The Monkees Tour Dates

May 18 - Fort Myers, FL @ Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall
May 19 - Melbourne, FL @ King Center for the Performing Arts
May 20 - Tampa, FL @ Ruth Eckerd Hall
May 21 - Atlanta, GA @ Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater
May 24 - Charlotte, NC @ Blumenthal PAC - Belk Theater
May 26 - Washington, DC @ Warner Theatre
May 27 - Boston, MA @ The Wilbur Theatre
May 28 - Philadelphia, PA @ Keswick Theatre
May 29 - Red Bank, NJ @ Count Basie Theatre
June 1 - New York, NY @ The Town Hall
June 3 - Toronto, ON @ Casino Rama
June 4 - Windsor, ON @ The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor
June 5 - Cleveland, OH @ Hard Rock Live Northfield Park
June 7 - Fort Wayne, IN @ Foellinger Theatre
June 10 - Louisville, KY @ Louisville Palace Theatre
June 11th - Hammond, IN @ The Venue at Horseshoe Casino
June 12 - Indianapolis, IN @ Murat Theatre at Old National Centre
June 14 - Dayton, OH @ Rose Music Center at The Heights
June 28 - Dallas, TX @ AT&T PAC – Winspear Opera House
June 30 - Tulsa, OK @ Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
July 1 - Mayetta, KS @ Prairie Band Casino & Resort
July 16 - Hampton Beach, NH @ Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
July 22 - Hot Springs, AR @ Oaklawn Racing and Gaming
September 14 - Tucson, AZ @ Fox Tucson Theater
September 15 - Phoenix, AZ @ Mesa Arts Center
September 16 - Los Angeles, CA @ Pantages Theatre
September 17 - Las Vegas, NV @ Primm Valley Casino Resorts
September 20 - San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
September 21 - Modesto, CA @ Gallo Center For The Arts
September 23 & 24 - Lincoln City, OR @ Chinook Winds Casino Resort
September 25 - Seattle, WA @ The Moore Theatre
October 1 - Biloxi, MS @ Hard Rock Live
October 22 - Paso Robles, CA @ Vina Robles Amphitheatre
October 29 - Shippensburg, PA @ H. Ric Luhrs PAC

What to Watch This Weekend: The Winter Premiere of Sleepy Hollow, the Series Debut of HBO's Animals, and Super Bowl 50

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What to watch on Friday, February 5...

NEXT: Saturday, February 6 | Sunday, February 7

12:01am Pacific, Netflix
Hannibal Buress: Comedy Camisado
The comedian addresses the ramifications of his Bill Cosby routine among other topics in his latest stand-up special.

WINTER PREMIERE/NEW NIGHT, 8pm, Fox
Sleepy Hollow
In the wake of Abbie’s sacrifice, Ichabod links up with a surprising ally while Jenny goes up against a familiar foe in “One Life.”

8pm, The CW
The Vampire Diaries
“Things We Lost in the Fire” finds Damon still a bit addled from his Phoenix stone ordeal, so Stefan tries to help him get back to normal (or at least to what passes for normal on The Vampire Diaries). Meanwhile, Tyler returns for Alaric’s baby shower, and Julian and his cronies take over Mystic Falls, because Mystic Falls.

8pm, ABC
Last Man Standing
Mike encourages Kristin and Ryan to buy a home, but no sooner do they find the perfect place than Ryan develops second thoughts. Apparently a house designed with non-Euclidean geometry is a bad thing now! Elsewhere in “Home Sweet Loan,” Mandy wants to bar Eve from the basement, but Kyle pushes back.

8:30pm, ABC
Dr. Ken
Ken helps Dave get a date to a school dance in “Dave’s Valentine.” But he’s nonplussed to learn who the girl’s father is: a high-priced malpractice lawyer and Ken’s frequent nemesis (Joel McHale). In other complications involving former Community co-stars, Damona and Clark provide moral support when Julie’s ex (Danny Pudi) shows up.

DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE, 9pm, Showtime
Michael Jackson’s Journey From Motown to Off the Wall
Spike Lee directs this profile of Jackson’s accession to the pop music throne, with a focus on his debut solo record Off The Wall. The film features archival footage and interviews with other members of the Jackson family.

9pm, CBS
Super Bowl’s Greatest Halftime Shows
A look back at some of the most memorable halftime performances (Non-Up-With-People Division) from the previous 49 years of Super Bowls, narrated by Chris O’Donnell.

9pm, NBC
Grimm
In “A Reptile Dysfunction,” Nick and Hank investigate a tourist’s death that could be a lake monster’s handiwork (flipperiwork?). Also keeping Nick busy this week is a grand tour of a super-secret government agency, while Rosalee deals with past demons and Capt. Renard deals with present ones (i.e., politicians).

9pm, PBS
Live From Lincoln Center
Andrea Bocelli, Renée Fleming, and 2015 Richard Tucker Award winner Jamie Barton are among the opera stars headlining the annual Richard Tucker Music Foundation gala, recorded in November 2015 at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall.

9pm, The CW
The Originals
Elijah forms an uneasy alliance with Aya in “Wild at Heart,” because 1) she may possess some key intel about an Original-offing weapon, and 2) forming uneasy alliances is simply what onedoes on this show. Lacking many allies herself at the moment, Davina receives a tempting offer that could help her reunite with Kol.

9pm, Fox
Second Chance
Duval investigates a spate of murders involving young prodigies in “Admissions,” and in the process raises some questions about Pritchard’s true identity.

11pm, Cartoon Network
Childrens Hospital
With newfound job security and leverage, Sy sets his sights on building a jetpack in “Sy’s Tenure.” Having a harder go of things is Owen, who struggles as hospital DJ.

SERIES PREMIERE, 11:30pm, HBO
Animals
Various nonhuman critters navigate various human-y troubles in this animated comedy produced by Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass. In the opener, a rat learns the ways of courtship, a pair of police horses envy a successful comrade, and a bedbug endures a midlife crisis. Voices includeKatie Aselton, Rob Corddry, Jason Mantzoukas, and other known Duplass associates.

LATE-NITE:
– Rebel Wilson, Jack Huston, and Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, 11:35pm, NBC
– Bobby Cannavale, Donny Deutsch, and Charles Kelley on Late Show with Stephen Colbert, 11:35pm, CBS
– Leslie Mann, Joshua Jackson, Benjamin Walker, and Russell Simins on Late Night with Seth Meyers, 12:35am, NBC

Patchwork pretty! Michelle Monaghan dazzles in low-cut patterned dress to promote her new show The Path at TVfest

By JENNIFER PEARSON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 02:25 EST, 5 February 2016 | UPDATED: 11:21 EST, 5

Michelle Monaghan plays the wife of a man who finds himself pulling away from a controversial church in The Path.

The 39-year-old actress made an interesting sight herself as she joined a few of her co-stars to promote the new Hulu original series at TVfest on Thursday in Atlanta, Georgia.

Michelle was clad in an exquisitely patterned dress with daring decolletage and a long flaring skirt that stopped at her ankles.

Scroll down for video

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Unique and interesting: Michelle Monaghan stood out in a multi-patterned dress while promoting her new Hulu show The Path at TVfest 2016 presented by SCAD on Thursday in Atlanta, Ga.

Boots of burgundy leather blended in nicely with the multi-patterned fabric, while her brown locks were let loose in rambling curls.

Michelle seemed to have a wonderful time discussing her role as Sarah and the show that casts Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul as her husband Eddie.

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Daring décolletage: The 39-year-old actress flashed cleavage in her very deep-cut dress

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She's got the floor: Michelle spoke during the discussion that focused on the show, her role and other topics

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Contented smile: The actress flashed her colleagues a winning smile

While Paul didn't appear to be in attendance, the show's stars Sarah Jones, Kyle allen, Amy Forsyth, Hugh Dancy were as was executive producer Jessica Goldberg.

The group laughed a lot while sitting in for the panel discussion, and at one point everyone posed for a group picture and in a celebratory mood ahead of the series premiere on March 30.

In the show, Michelle has great chemistry with Paul as seen in the recently released trailer for the series which includes a sexy bedroom scene.

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In good company: Michelle and her co-star Hugh Dancy listened while executive producer Jessica Goldberg spoke at the event

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Quite a departure: Hugh took the mic to talk about his interesting role as cult leader Cal Roberts

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Star turnout: The show's leading man Aaron Paul wasn't seen at the event but others were including Michelle, Sarah Jones, Jessica Goldberg, Kyle Allen, Amy Forsyth and Hugh Dancy

The trailer begins with Aaron Paul's voiceover: 'As the doctor walked up the steep mountain, he thought about the horrible things he had done to the soldiers at the hospital....'

Scenes flit one after another, a quaint small town, the sun rising over the roof of a white clapboard two-story house, Eddie and Sarah Cleary (Aaron Paul, Michelle Monaghan) making eye contact during a family dinner, Cal Roberts (Hugh Dancy) delivering a prayer to his followers in a park-like setting.

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Star in white: Sarah Jones had star appeal in a mostly white ensemble with golden heels

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Ravishing redhead: Amy Forsyth showed off her long reddish-brown curls to match her green and ivory patterned frock

Then the congregationers are seen tending to their vegetable garden, Sarah (Monaghan) driving through town with a smile for one of the townspeople.

The voiceover continues: 'He now knew that it was all lies, what he had been asked to do, what he had done...'

Eddie's inner turmoil begins to express itself as he pulls Sarah close to him as they lie in bed. He closes his eyes.

Hugh Dancy is in fine and ominous form as cult leader Cal Roberts.

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Danger: Michelle plays the wife of a man who begins to question his allegiance to a controversial 'church' in The Path, which debuts on Hulu on March 30

Metallica's Lars Ulrich promises a "very vivid" production at the band's pre–Super Bowl show, which they'll stream for free online. Shirlaine Forrest/Getty

Ever since Metallica signed up to play a stadium gig the day before the Super Bowl in their hometown of San Francisco, Lars Ulrich has been relentlessly checking the forecast. "The Weather Underground app has taken up a lot of my iPhone time," he tells Rolling Stone. "About a month ago, it was wet, then it was wetter, then it was the wettest. The good news is, as I look out the window, it's sunny and dry outside." He laughs.

Ulrich's good spirits are starting to show. "There's a lot of excitement in the air, both from people that live here in the Bay Area and from all corners of the world," he says. "It's an awesome thing to be a part of and to have in our backyard."

Things are looking good for what is officially CBS Radio's annual "The Night Before" concert, set to take place Saturday night at San Francisco's AT&T Park and to stream for free online. Part of the reason why the drummer has been worried about everything going right isn't just because the concert will be Metallica's first of 2016, but also because they'll be debuting a new stage production. "It's big," he says. "I mean it's really big. I haven't seen it yet, but I got sent the first pictures last night, and it's very vivid. It'll light up the sky." He laughs again.

Getting everything right for the show is a chief concern for the band. Usually, they're able to work out the kinks of a new production on the road, but since the Night Before is a one-off, they're going to hit the ground running. In order to get ready, the band is doing something they rarely do: play a soundcheck on Friday and invite their fans to watch. "Soundchecks can be notoriously uninspiring, but since we have to get some cobwebs out, and we figured people will be coming in from far away for the game, we invited 250 fan club members," Ulrich says. "It'll up the ante and keep us on our toes."

Asked what fans can expect from the show's set list, Ulrich says he and the band have been readying what its production manager Dan Braun calls Metallica's "toe-tapping favorites."

"If I told you that we were going to play all the deep, obscure tracks fromLoad and ReLoad, you know I'd be lying to you," he says, chuckling. "I don't want to dampen anyone's enthusiasm, but we're leaning a little bit towards the classics. We do so many different configurations of set lists for if we're playing theaters, somebody's basement, arenas, and recently at our last couple of indoor shows, we went very deep. Last summer, we played 'The Unforgiven II,' which we'd never played live before, and we had tracks like 'Disposable Heroes' and 'Metal Militia' and 'King Nothing' after a long absence. But I will go out on a limb here and say we will lean on the classics. There will be a significant portion of those, whatever they may be."

So when it's all done, and Ulrich is watching the big game the next day, who will he be rooting for, the Denver Broncos or the Carolina Panthers? "The Seahawks!" Ulrich says, laughing. "But I don’t think that will do much good. You got me on that one. Sporting events have the tendency to be a lot more interesting when you actually care who wins.

"Last year, that was a pretty fucking awesome football game," Ulrich continues. "And three years ago with the 49ers, where they came down to the last play, was insane. This year, who knows? I hope that people find the city of San Francisco a great host, and I hope that it plays out the way people want it to. I'll be checking out the commercials." He laughs.

The Lumineers have released their first new song in four years, "Ophelia," and have announced a new album titled 'Cleopatra'

Colorado folk-rock band the Lumineers have announced their second album, Cleopatra. The LP, the follow-up to their Grammy-nominated 2013 self-titled album, will be released on April 8th. The Lumineers also previewed the forthcoming Cleopatra with their first new song in four years, "Ophelia."

"It's a heavier record," frontman Wesley Schultz told Entertainment Weekly about Cleopatra. "A lot of the records that I grew up on were about being transitory; never being stuck. This lifestyle can make you crazy."

On "Ophelia," the darker tone of the Lumineers' new music can be heard within the familiar stomps, claps and harmonies that made their more whimsical "Ho Hey" a hit. "'Ophelia' is a vague reference to people falling in love with fame," Schultz told EW. "That spotlight can seem like an endless buffet, but in reality, you're just shiny, bright and new to people for a quick moment — and then you have the rest of your life to live."

Along with the single and album announcement, the Lumineers also revealed Cleopatra's track list and the dates for a world tour in support of the LP. Less than a week after the album's release, the band will kick off their international trek in Bristol, UK and remain in Europe through mid-May. The folk band will be in North America from the end of May through mid-June before playing a pair of dates in Italy in July.

The Lumineers debuted in 2012 with their eponymous album. In 2013, they were nominated for two Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist and Best Americana Album. The album reached Number Two on the Billboard200 while "Ho Hey" stayed in the Top 10 on the Hot 100 for 14 weeks.

Cleopatra track list

1. "Sleep On The Floor"
2. "Ophelia"
3. "Cleopatra"
4. "Gun Song"
5. "Angela"
6. "In The Light"
7. "Gale Song"
8. "Long Way From Home"
9. "Sick In The Head"
10. "My Eyes"
11. "Patience"

Lumineers World Tour Dates

April 14 - Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy
April 15 - Glasgow, UK @ Barrowlands
April 18 - Dublin, Ireland @ Olympia Theatre
April 19 - Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
April 23 - London, UK @ O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
April 27 - Paris, France @ Le Trianon
April 28 - Brussels, Belgium @ Ancienne Belgique
April 29 - Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Melkweg
May 2 - Cologne, Germany @ E-Werk
May 4 - Hamburg, Germany @ Gross Freiheit 36
May 6 - Berlin, Germany @ Admiralspalast
May 8 - Stockholm, Sweden @ Berns
May 9 - Oslo, Norway @ Rockefeller
May 10 - Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega
May 21 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
May 22 - Dallas, TX @ The Bomb Factory
May 25 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Red Butte Garden
May 27 - San Diego, CA @ CalCoast Credit Union Open Air Theatre
May 28 - Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl
May 29 - Napa Valley @ Bottle Rock Festival
May 31 - Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
June 1 - Vancouver, BC @ Orpheum Theatre
June 3 - Redmond, WA @ Marymoor Amphitheater
June 7 - Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
June 10 - Kansas City, MO @ KC Live!
June 11 - Indianapolis, IN @ Murat Theatre
June 12 - St. Louis, MI @ Peabody Opera House
June 14 - St. Paul, MN @ Myth
June 15 - Milwaukee, WI @ Riverside Theater
June 19 - Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theater
July 20 - Gardone Riviera, Italy @ Anfiteatro Del Vittoriale
July 21- Sesto al Reghena, Italy @ Sexto ‘NPlugged

FEBRUARY 05, 2016 10:00am PT by Lesley Goldberg

Maggie Q, Natasha McElhone, Kal Penn, Italia Ricci to Co-Star in ABC's Kiefer Sutherland Drama

From left: Penn, Q, McElhone and Ricci Getty Images

Kal Penn will also receive consulting credit on straight-to-series drama 'Designated Survivor.'

ABC has lined up an impressive cast for its straight-to-series drama Designated Survivor.

Natasha McElhone, Maggie Q, Kal Penn and Italia Ricci will co-star in the drama created by David Guggenheim, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Starring 24 alum Kiefer Sutherland, the drama centers on Tom, a lower-level U.S. cabinet member (Sutherland), who is suddenly appointed president after a catastrophic attack during the State of the Union kills everyone above him in the presidential line of succession. The series is described as a family drama wrapped around a conspiracy thriller about an ordinary man in an extraordinary situation.

McElhone is set as Jessica, Tom's wife who is a smart and strong EEOC attorney. Q is set as Hannah, the lead FBI agent on the Capitol's bombing who professionally is in command but whose personal life is a mess. Penn, who will also receive a consultant credit, will portray Seth, a speech writer who helps Tom write his first one after the attack; Ricci is set as Emily, Tom's chief of staff.

For McElhone, the role marks her return to series television following Showtime's long-running comedy Californication. She's repped by Paradigm and Myman Greenspan; Q's credits include the Divergent franchise, CBS' Stalker and The CW's Nikita. She's with CAA, Untitled and Broder Law Group. Penn, whose roles include Kumar in the Harold & Kumar franchise as well as TV's Deadbeat,Battle Creek and House, is with UTA, Industry Entertainment and Fuller Downs. Ricci is fresh off ABC Family's Chasing Life and next has a recurring role on CBS'Supergirl. She's with ICM Partners, Protege and Felker Toczek.

Safe House's Guggenheim will pen the script and exec produce alongside Simon Kinberg, Sutherland, Aditya Sood, Suzan Bymel and Amy B. Harris, with the latter set to serve as showrunner. Nick Pepper and Jacqueline Sacerio are the execs in charge. The drama is a co-production between ABC Studios and eOne-based the Mark Gordon Studios.

An episode count on the straight-to-series entry has not yet been determined, though insiders say it's likely 13.

Keep up with all the latest pickups, castings and eventual series orders with THR's handy guide to pilot season.

Bella Heathcote Joins 'Fifty Shades Darker'

'Bella Heathcote'

Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic/Getty Images

by Mia Galuppo

2/5/2016 10:54am PST

The 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' actress will play Leila, one of Christian Grey's former lovers.

Bella Heathcote is the latest lady to join the cast of Fifty Shades Darkeras one of Christian Grey's former flames.

The Dark Shadows actress will play Leila, a woman who had been in a relationship with Jamie Dornan's Christian, who is scarred both emotionally and psychically.

This casting follows the announcement that Kim Basinger will play Grey's Mrs. Robinson-esque first lover.

James Foley is set to direct the next two installments of the E.L. James adaptation Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed from screenplays by Niall Leonard. The first film in the franchise, Fifty Shades of Grey, grossed $560 million worldwide.

Heathcote can be seen in the upcoming genre-bender Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, opening today. She is repped by WME, More/Medavoy and Sloane Offer.

FEBRUARY 04, 2016 11:00am PT by Lesley Goldberg

Dan Stevens, Aubrey Plaza, Jean Smart to Star in FX's 'X-Men' Take 'Legion'

Aubrey Plaza, Dan Stevens, Jean Smart Courtesy of FX

The 'Downton Abbey,' 'Parks and Recreation' and 'Fargo' alums join previously cast Rachel Keller (also from 'Fargo') in the Noah Hawley drama pilot.

FX is going big for its X-Mentake, Legion.

The network has tappedDownton Abbey's Dan Stevens, Parks and Recreationgrad Aubrey Plaza and Fargoalum Jean Smart to star in the pilot from Noah Hawley (Fargo), The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The Legion pilot introduces the story of David Haller, a man who may be more than human and who has struggled with mental illness since his teenage years. Diagnosed as schizophrenic, David has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years. But after a strange encounter with a fellow patient, he is confronted with the possibility that the voices he hears and the visions he sees might be real. In the comics, David is the son of X-Men founder Charles Xavier (aka Professor X) and Israeli Holocaust survivor Gabrielle Haller. The character first appeared in New Mutants No. 25 in March 1985.

Stevens will play David, a haunted man trying to find his way back to sanity; he's getting tired and is about to give up when he meets the girl of his dreams.

For Stevens, the role marks his TV follow-up to Downton Abbey, where he played Matthew Crawley for three years (and 25 episodes). He most recently starred as the Beast in the live-action Beauty and the Beast movie. He's repped by WME, Julian Belfrage Associates and Peikoff Mahan.

Parks breakout Plaza will play Lenny, David's friend who, despite a life of drugs and alcohol abuse, knows that any day now her life is going to turn around — which gives Lenny the likeable energy of the impossible optimist despite her rough demeanor.

Since wrapping NBC's Parks, UCB grad Plaza — who has received multiple offers this pilot season — has focused on film with features Dirty Grandpa, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates and Joshy. She's repped by CAA, MGMT Entertainment and Schreck Rose.

Smart, who reunites with Hawley after her role in season two of FX's Fargo, is set as Melanie, a nurturing, demanding therapist with a sharp mind and unconventional methods. The actress' role in Fargo earned her a Critics' Choice Award for supporting actress in a limited series. The three-time Emmy winner next stars in The Accountant. She's repped by WME and Untitled Entertainment.

Stevens and Plaza join the previously cast Rachel Keller, a Fargo season two breakout who will also reunite with Hawley on Legion. Keller will play the female lead, Syd, a self-sufficient and street smart woman who uses her sharp and prickly demeanor to protect her soft core because even though it makes her a sucker and puts her at risk, she still believes in happily ever after.

Legion hails from FX Productions and Marvel Television, with FXP overseeing production. Hawley, who has an overall with FXP, will write the pilot and serve as an executive producer alongside Lauren Shuler Donner (X-Men: Days of Future Past, Wolverine), Bryan Singer (X-Men: Days of Future Past, Superman Returns), Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Martian) and Marvel's Jeph Loeb (Agents of SHIELD, Daredevil) and Jim Chory (Daredevil). John Cameron is also on board as an exec producer via his overall deal with FXP, marking his and Hawley's latest collaboration after Golden Globe-winning anthology Fargo. Production on Legion will begin in March.

FEBRUARY 04, 2016 9:00am PT by Lesley Goldberg

Spike Orders 'Caraoke Showdown' Hosted by Craig Robinson (Exclusive)

Courtesy of Spike

The half-hour game show will be exec produced by Howie Mandel and debut with a special this year.

Spike TV is taking a page from James Corden's wildly popularCarpool Karaoke.

The Viacom-owned cable network — home to hit Lip Sync Battle — has greenlighted Caraoke Showdown, hosted by Craig Robinson.

Set to debut as a half-hour special later this year, Caraoke Showdown will featureThe Office alum Robinson picking up unsuspecting contestants to engage in a karaoke-inspired game show. During various rounds of game play, contestants must belt out their favorite tunes, finish the lyrics or act out songs for cash. Celebrity guest appearances will add surprise as the contestants never know what to expect next.

Caraoke Showdown hails from Howie Mandel's Alevy Productions. The company's Mike Marks will executive produce along with Core Media.

The project is considered a one-off special, but it's a safe bet that if successful it will become a series.

Spike exec vp original series Sharon Levy and senior vp originals Chachi Senior will executive produce; Tori Socha will oversee production.

For Spike TV, Caraoke Showdown comes as the cable network has found massive success with Jimmy Fallon's Lip Sync Battle. The reality competition series, based on the regular Tonight Show sketch, features celebrities dueling it out in elaborately staged lip-sync performances. Hosted by LL Cool J, the multiplatform hit ranks as Spike's most-watched original series in history. Season two premiered Jan. 7 and, after its first two episodes, is averaging 4.4 million total viewers and an impressive 3.1 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic.

On the digital front, Lip Sync Battle's weekly clips continue to go viral on a regular basis. The series has amassed more than 500 million video streams since its launch last April, with more than 50 million alone for the season-two premiere featuring Channing Tatum squaring off against his wife, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, with special appearances by Beyonce and Paula Abdul. The show has already been renewed for a third season.

Spike's Caraoke Showdown comes as Corden's corporate sibling The Late Late Show has found success online with viral segment Carpool Karaoke.

Robinson, repped by UTA and 3 Arts, recently won the Sundance Actor Award for his role in Morris From America. His credits include NBC's Mr. Robinson and the pics Hot Tub Time Machine and This Is the End.

FEBRUARY 04, 2016 2:00pm PT by Michael O'Connell

Fox Revisiting Saturday Sketch Comedy With Lonely Island's 'Party Over Here'

Jessica McKenna, Nicole Byer and Alison Rich Courtesy of Fox

The series comes from Lonely Island's Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone and actor-comedian Paul Scheer.

Fox is about to reap the benefits of its pact with Lonely Island g...ma Taccone. The network is also moving back into the sketch comedy space, ordering Saturday late-night effort Party Over Here from the trio and Paul Scheer.

The four will executive produce the new half-hour series, set to debut Mar. 12, though they naturally won't be part of the cast. That will be comprised of Nicole Byer, Jessica McKenna and Alison Rich.

“When we first conceived this idea, we thought of it as a spinoff of Empire,” Samberg, Schaffer and Taccone said Thursday in a statement. “We failed miserably … now it’s much more of a sketch comedy show.”

Added Scheer: “In an age where most millennials don’t even know what a TV is, we are really excited to be getting into the TV business."

Fox has not had a regular sketch comedy series or a late-night effort sinceMadTV ended its 14-season run back in 2009. Party Over Here, notably comprised of an all-female cast at the moment, will not be going head-to-head with NBC's Saturday Night Live, though. It will air at 11 p.m. ET/PT.

“The late-night landscape is wildly competitive, and we thought long and hard about the kind of audacious, attention-getting voices we needed,” said Fox Broadcasting entertainment president David Madden. “Andy, Akiva, Jorma, Paul and our three stars — Nicole, Jessica and Alison — are the ideal group of talent to do just that. They’re fearless, original and, of course, very, very funny.”

The trio of women are relative newcomers, but each boasts a unique comedy cred. Bryer is one of the breakouts of MTV's Girl Code, McKenna has been with both the Groundlings and the Upright Citizens Brigade, and Rich served as a staff writer on SNL.

Scheer, who currently stars on ABC's Fresh Off the Boat, will direct in addition to his work as producer.

FEBRUARY 04, 2016 11:00am PT by Lesley Goldberg

Jason Patric to Star in 'Wayward Pines' Season 2

Getty Images

Marking his TV series regular debut.

Fox's Wayward Pines has a new leading man.

The Lost Boys, Rush and Narc alum Jason Patric has been tapped to star in season two of the drama from M. Night Shyamalan, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

In season two, Wayward Pines will pick up after the events of the season one finale, with the residents of Wayward Pines battling against the iron-fisted rule of the First Generation. Dr. Theo Yedlin — a new resident of the town — awakens from suspended animation and finds himself in the middle of this rebellion as he tries to understand what Wayward Pines really is and help preserve the endangered human race.

Patric will play Dr. Theo Yedlin, a confident, driven surgeon whose leadership skills will prove invaluable to the residents of Wayward Pines.

Patric takes over the void created during the season one finale in which star Matt Dillion's character, Ethan, was killed off. Patric's character is one of several new season two additions as the Fox limited series reboots itself following the shocking finale. The series is currently casting the series regular roles of Theo's wife, an underground rebel and a teenager who is part of the town's new brain trust, as well as three other recurring parts. It's unclear which of the season one surviving cast will return for the show's sophomore outing.

For Patric, meanwhile, the role marks the veteran film actor's series regular debut. He was previously attached to star in comic book adaptation Powerwhen it was originally developed for FX. His credits include Speed 2, Narc andYour Friends & Neighbors. He's repped by Gersh, LINK Entertainment and Bloom Hergott.

Set to return in the summer for a second round of 10 episodes, series developer/creator Chad Hodge will not return as showrunner on the series based on Black Crouch's book. Mark Friedman (Believe, The Forgotten) will take over as showrunner and exec produce alongside Donald De Line (Green Lantern), Ashwin Rajan (Devil), Crouch and Shyamalan.

What to watch on Saturday, February 6...

By Andy Daglas

8pm, CBS
Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials All-Star Countdown
Kevin Frazier hosts a look at 10 favorite advertisements, including the one with the funny animal, the one with the funny little kid, and the one with the funny existentially crushing pressure of late-capitalist era consumerism.

MOVIE PREMIERE, 8pm, Lifetime
Manson’s Lost Girls
Based on the story of women who became members of Charles Manson’s homicidal cult, this drama centers on Linda Kasabian from her arrival at Manson’s commune through her escape and her contribution to putting the madman behind bars.

8pm, Discovery
MythBusters
Adam and Jamie add some unpaid assistants to their ranks in “Volunteer Special,” testing such thrilling myths as zombie apocalypse preparation and waiting-in-line techniques.

DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE, 9pm, HBO
Jim: The James Foley Story
A profile of the journalist who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012 and became the first U.S. citizen murdered by ISIS in 2014. The documentary includes interviews with loved ones, journalists, and fellow hostages.

9pm, Starz
Black Sails
Flint tests Silver’s limits, Rackham seizes control, and Vane faces a tough decision. Meanwhile, Nassau prepares to repel an invasion.

10pm, Esquire
Beowulf
Beowulf and Rate scour the forest for the missing Slean and Thane Scorannn, where they encounter plenty of woodland dangers but dispiritingly few friendly, singing animals. In the meantime, Scorann’s absence is putting a crimp on Rheda’s leadership bid.

11:30pm, NBC
Saturday Night Live
Larry David hosts, and Vegas has set the over/under on “Number of Bernie Sanders Sketches” at 3.5. Musical guest The 1975 is taking the over.

FEBRUARY 04, 2016 5:59pm PT by Lesley Goldberg

Netflix Orders Comedy Based on Sophia Amoruso Best-Seller '#Girlboss' to Series

Courtesy of Portfolio

'Pitch Perfect's' Kay Cannon and Charlize Theron will exec produce the fashion series.

Netflix is getting into the fashion world.

The streaming giant has gone straight to series on a comedy based on Sophia Amoruso's best-selling book #Girlboss, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Inspired by Amoruso's book, the series centers on Sophia's rise from dumpster-diving and selling vintage clothes on eBay to building a fashion empire and becoming a multimillionaire all by the age of 27. It's an authentic, funny, vulnerable story of horrible mistakes combined with incredible twists all from the POV of business's unlikeliest fashion mogul.

Pitch Perfect's Kay Cannon created the series and will exec produce alongside Charlize Theron, Beth Kono, Laverne McKinnon and Amoruso. Christian Ditter will direct the first episode of the single-camera comedy series. Cannon will serve as showrunner.

Amoruso is the founder and owner of fashion brand Nasty Gal. The company was sited as one of the fastest growing by Inc Magazine in 2012. She developed a loyal following by young women on social media. The New York Times called her a "Cinderella of tech" a few years ago. Her autobiography, #Girlboss, was published in 2014.

The series pickup expands Netflix's relationship with Theron's Denver and Delilah banner. The production company also has David Fincher drama Mind Hunter set up at the streaming service.

For Netflix, the deal comes as the streamer is poised to invest a whopping $5 billion in original programming in 2016.

What to watch on Sunday, February 7...

12pm, Hallmark
Kitten Bowl III
Adorable (and adoptable) kitties frolic in a generally football-themed setting.

3pm, Animal Planet
Puppy Bowl XII
Like the Kitten Bowl, except with puppies, and also some kittens at halftime, and heck why not some cheerleading chickens for good measure.

6:30pm, CBS
Super Bowl 50
Young gun Cam Newton leads the Carolina Panthers against veteran QB/pizza pitchman Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The halftime show will include performances by Beyoncé and Coldplay, while Lady Gaga handles national anthem duties.

9pm, PBS
Downton Abbey
Not all of tonight’s clashes take place on the gridiron, as the brouhaha over the hospital comes to a head and as Daisy tries to thwart a budding romance. In less combative affairs, both Mary and Edith find their fortunes on the upswing.

9pm, Showtime
Shameless
Frank guides Erica through the cancer concierge process, Debbie lends Tyler moral support, and Lip finds his efforts to shield Helene rebuffed in “Refugees.”

10pm, PBS
Mercy Street
“The Belle Alliance” sees the Green girls and Frank contriving an escape plan for Tom, while Mary releases Dr. Foster from his quarantine so he can help steer Samuel through an operation.

10pm, Showtime
Billions
Axe feels the sting of betrayal in “Short Squeeze,” while Chuck digs deeper into how Axe Capital operates. He is, perhaps, more surprised than he should be learn that the passcode for every fax machine is AXERULES.

10pm or following the Super Bowl, CBS
Late Show with Stephen Colbert
The coveted post-Super-Bowl slot goes to a late-night talk show for the first time. Scheduled guests for the live broadcast include Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Will Ferrell, Keegan-Michael Key & Jordan Peele, and the always elusive Mystery Guests.

11:35pm or following Late Show, CBS
The Late Late Show with James Corden
The lineup includes Zac Efron, Official Celebrity Crush of What to Watch Tonight Anna Kendrick,Adam DeVine, and Carpool Karaoke with Elton John, along with recreations of classic Super Bowl commercials and a tailgate party outside of the studio.

12am, Cartoon Network
The Venture Bros.
“Maybe No Go” pits White and Billy against an archnemesis back on their old stomping grounds. Elsewhere, Doc realizes that he can only get by with a little help from his friends.

New Movies, TV on Amazon in February: 'Chi-Raq,' 'Amy,' 'The Americans' Season 3

8:56 PM 2/4/2016

by Hilary Lewis

Amazon Prime will also debut its original docuseries 'The New Yorker Presents' later this month with 'Lost in Translation,' 'Men in Black,' Michael Keaton's 'Batman' and past seasons of HBO's 'Girls' and 'The Newsroom' rounding out the streaming selection.

Courtesy of Lionsgate

Amazon Studios' first film, Spike Lee's Chi-Raq, will finally be available for streaming by Amazon Prime subscribers on Feb. 5, just two months after the film's theatrical release. Other movies streaming for Prime subscribers this month include best documentary Oscar nominee Amy, Lost in Translation, The Fifth Element, Men in Black, Talladega Nights and 1989's Batman, starring Michael Keaton as the Caped Crusader.

On the TV side, Amazon will debut its original docuseries, The New Yorker Presents, produced by Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney and Conde Nast Entertainment, on Feb. 16. The show will feature scripted narrative and documentary segments based on the magazine's pieces as well as comedy, poetry, animation and cartoons.

Those who are behind on FX's The Americans and HBO's Girlsand The Newsroom can catch up on all three series later this month, when past seasons begin streaming on Amazon Prime.

Movies and TV shows becoming available via Amazon Instant Video in February include Steve Jobs, Truth, The People vs. O.J. Simpson, The Walking Dead and Better Call Saul, with new episodes of the latter three becoming available on Amazon the day after they air on TV.

Read on for the full list of movies and TV shows coming to Amazon in February.

• Feb. 1

  

  Courtesy of Photofest

  A Better Life (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  Amy (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  Batman (1989) (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  Deliver Us from Evil (2014) (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  The Fifth Element (1997) (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  The Fury (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  How To Steal A Million (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  The Karate Kid (1984) (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  Kings of Summer (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  Like Sunday, Like Rain (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  Lost in Translation (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  Men In Black (1997) (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  Night Watch (2004) (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  Nintendo Quest (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  To Be Or Not To Be (1983) (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  The Truth About Emanuel (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  Twelve O'Clock High (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  Waking Ned Devine (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)

• Feb. 2-4

  

  Feb. 2
  Adaline (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  The Identity Theft Of Mitch Mustain (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  Myanmar: Bridges to Change (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  Poldark season 1 (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  Steve Jobs (available for purchase on Amazon Instant Video)
  Truth (available for purchase on Amazon Instant Video)
  
  Feb. 3
  The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Storyseason 1 (episodes available for purchase on Amazon Instant Video the day after they air on TV)
  
  Feb. 4
  Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)

• Feb. 5-9

  

  Parrish Lewis

  Feb. 5
  Chi-Raq (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  Fire City: End of Days (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  Ouija Exorcism (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  
  Feb. 9
  Grandma (available for purchase on Amazon Instant Video)
  The Leftovers season 2 (available for purchase on Amazon Instant Video)

• Feb. 11-15

  

  FX

  Feb. 11
  Girls season 2 (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  
  Feb. 15
  The Americans season 3 (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  The Newsroom season 3 (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  Solomon Kane (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  The Walking Dead season 6, second half (episodes available for purchase on Amazon Instant Video the day after they air on TV)

• Feb. 16-29

  

  Courtesy of Sundance Institute

  Feb. 16
  Better Call Saul season 2 (episodes available for purchase on Amazon Instant Video the day after they air on TV)
  The New Yorker Presents season 1 (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  Thomas & Friends: Start Your Engines (available for purchase on Amazon Instant Video)
  
  Feb. 21
  Love & Friendship (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  
  Feb. 24
  Digging for Fire (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)
  
  Feb. 29
  Inequality for All (available for streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video)

Selena Quintanilla 'Barbie': Queen Of Tejano Fans Begin Petition, Ask Mattel To Create Doll

Selena Quintanilla fans are asking Mattel for a Queen of Tejano Barbie doll. Change.Org

Review: 'Deadpool' is the R-rated superhero movie fans have always wanted

Watch Metallica's pre-Super Bowl "The Night Before" concert via live-stream from San Francisco's AT&T Park. The concert begins at around 8:30 p.m. PST

Tonight at approximately 8:30 p.m. PST, Metallica will take the stage at AT&T Park in their native San Francisco for their "The Night Before" concert, a sold-out blowout to get the party started before Super Bowl 50 invades Santa Clara's Levi's Stadium on Sunday night. To celebrate the gig, Metallica are offering up a live-stream of their hometown gig, also their first concert of 2016, in the video above.

"There's a lot of excitement in the air, both from people that live here in the Bay Area and from all corners of the world," Ulrich told Rolling Stone. "It's an awesome thing to be a part of and to have in our backyard." Ulrich added that, in the weeks leading up to their pre-Super Bowl concert, he was routinely checking the weather, hoping a wet winter in the Bay Area wouldn't mar the pre-Super Bowl show.

As for what Metallica might play for their return to the stage, Ulrich said, "If I told you that we were going to play all the deep, obscure tracks from Loadand ReLoad, you know I'd be lying to you. I don't want to dampen anyone's enthusiasm, but we're leaning a little bit towards the classics."

Before Saturday night's concert, Metallica invited around 300 lucky fan club members Friday to watch the band's "The Night Before" soundcheck, a rarity for the group. "Soundchecks can be notoriously uninspiring, but since we have to get some cobwebs out, and we figured people will be coming in from far away for the game, we invited 250 fan club members," Ulrich said. "It'll up the ante and keep us on our toes."

Photo by Vandell Cobb/Ebony Collection

R&B music lost a titan this past week, as Maurice White, the front man and creator of the exceptionally groovy group, Earth, Wind & Fire, passed away at the age of 74.

There isn’t anyone in the world who hasn’t two-stepped to “September,” or busted a groove to “Shining Star,” or held a smooth move session to “Fantasy”. Maurice White was the catalyst, the originator behind all of those hits. As a sessions drummer who played with Ramsey Lewis‘s jazz trio in the ’60s, White became the principal producer of EWF’s music.

Steeped in jazz, funk and Latin influences, Earth, Wind & Fire rewrote the book on how music should sound and surpassed anything produced by the disco era. Billboard Magazine was able to sit with the talented singer-songwriter, as the popular publication offered some questions via email. In what would be one of his final media exchanges of his life, the music giant, according to Billboard, was still in touch with the pulse of his group.

In his exchange, White answered questions about his group, Earth, Wind & Fire, what he did when he won his first Grammy and where the group’s name came from.

On arriving to the group’s sound…

“There was an evolution and as time went on, the sound was developed by the musicians I brought into the group.”

On where the group’s name originated from…

“My horoscope.” (White, who was born Dec. 19, was a Sagittarius, whose principle elements are earth, air and fire.)

On what he remembered about his first Grammy Award win in 1975…

“I was so excited. The validation by the industry was gratifying. It felt like my position in the chain of musical history was being acknowledged.”

On the EWF’s influence on contemporary R&B…

“I don’t really listen to contemporary R&B with an ear for hearing my influence. Music is a spirit unto itself and all of us musicians influence each other all along the chain.”

—Maurice White, a master of the soulful sound and elevated funk, will sorely be missed. Please pay your respect to the legend by sending some prayers up in his name.

Mavis Staples HBO Documentary TV Movie

Rosamund Pike Circling the Lead Role in Mike Newell’s Guernsey

GUERNSEY MOVIE NEWS ROSAMUND PIKE BY MAX EVRY ON FEBRUARY 5, 2016 Rosamund Pike circling the lead role in Mike Newell’s Guernsey According to Deadline, Gone Girl actress Rosamund Pike may have found her next project with the adaptation of Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows’ best-seller “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” titled Guernsey, which will be directed by British vet Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). Kenneth Branagh was previously in line to direct, with actresses including Kate Winslet, Lily James and Rebecca Ferguson vying for the plum lead role of Juliet Ashton. “‘The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society’ takes place on the island of Guernsey,”says co-author Annie Barrows on the book’s official site, “which is in the English channel, during the second World War when the island was occupied by the Germans. It’s about a group of eccentric locals and transplanted Londoners who come together at a particularly inauspicious moment to form a book club. It’s about the books that they read and how they grow to love one another and save one another during that time.” Don Roos (Marley & Me) penned the screenplay adaptation for Guernsey, with Mitchell Kaplan and Paula Mazur producing through their Mazur/Kaplan Company banner. Pike will next be seen opposite David Oyelowo in the historical romance A United Kingdom, and is currently filming the World War II assassination tale HHhH with Jack Reynor and Mia Wasikowska.

Olivia Munn Shares New Psylocke Photo from X-Men: Apocalypse

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE MOVIE NEWS OLIVIA MUNN BY CS ON FEBRUARY 6, 2016 Olivia Munn shares new Psylocke photo from X-Men: Apocalypse Olivia Munn participated in a Twitter Q&A today for X-Men: Apocalypse (you can view her responses here) and during the session, she shared this new Psylocke photo from the movie! Since the dawn of civilization, he was worshiped as a god. Apocalypse, the first and most powerful mutant from Marvel’s X-Men universe, amassed the powers of many other mutants, becoming immortal and invincible. Upon awakening after thousands of years, he is disillusioned with the world as he finds it and recruits a team of powerful mutants, including a disheartened Magneto (Michael Fassbender), to cleanse mankind and create a new world order, over which he will reign. As the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) with the help of Professor X (James McAvoy) must lead a team of young X-Men to stop their greatest nemesis and save mankind from complete destruction.” X-Men: Apocalypse stars James McAvoy as Charles Xaver, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, Nicholas Hoult as Beast, Rose Byrne as Moira MacTaggert, Lucas Till as Havok and newcomers Alexandra Shipp as Storm, Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, Ben Hardy as Angel, Tye Sheridan as Cyclops, Olivia Munn as Psylocke and Lana Condor as Jubilee. Oscar Isaac is starring as the film’s title antagonist. Said to be the conclusion of a trilogy started with X-Men: First Class and continued with X-Men: Days of Future Past, the Bryan Singer-directed X-Men: Apocalypse is set for release on May 27, 2016.

Dua Lipa, O2 ABC, Glasgow, review: Jazz-infused songs recall a smoke-filled cabaret bar

• Chris Green
• @cghgreen
• Wednesday 27 January 2016

Dua Lipa first came to the attention of Lana Del Rey's managers in 2012

Rating: 4 Stars

Elton John's Wonderful Crazy Night has an infectiously spontaneous flavour - review

• Paul Sexton
• Wednesday 3 February 2016

Virgin/EMI

Rating: 4 Stars

Hail, Caesar! review: Coen brothers go to Hollywood – and it's a pleasure to watch

• Geoffrey Macnab
• @IndyVoices
• Friday 5 February 2016

George Clooney plays Baird Whitlock, a charming womaniser, part-Barrymore part-Flynn, who goes missing

This is one of the Coen brothers’ jolliest and most carefree films – quite a surprise considering its subject matter.

Opening the Berlin Festival next week, Hail, Caesar! is set in Hollywood in the 1950s, at the height of the anti-communist hysteria. The main character is a fictionalised version of the real-life studio exec Eddie Mannix, who was Louis B Mayer’s enforcer at MGM. If a male star was gay or a female one got pregnant, Mannix was the one who either kept the story out of the papers or spun it to the studio’s advantage.

In the 2006 feature Hollywoodland, he was played as a dark and ruthless figure by the late Bob Hoskins. Here, Josh Brolin portrays him as a genial workaholic who charms rather than bullies actors, journalists and cops into behaving themselves and whose only real vice is smoking too many cigarettes.

Like the Coens’ The Big Lebowski (1998), the film has the feel of a shaggy-dog story. It has a tongue-in-cheek voice-over from Michael Gambon, a bit like Sam Elliott’s one in their earlier movie. Brolin’s super-efficient Mannix is very different from Jeff Bridges’ hapless, permanently stoned “Dude”, but what the two characters have in common is their tendency to get caught in the most outlandish scrapes.

The particular headache that Mannix has to deal with here is the disappearance of Capitol Pictures’ biggest star, Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) midway through the shooting of the studio’s big-budget biblical epic, Hail Caesar! A Tale Of The Christ.

Whitlock is a drunkard and a womaniser but he is also utterly charming. Clooney, who spends much of the movie in a toga, plays him in a thoroughly winning way. One part John Barrymore, one part Errol Flynn, he’ll listen to everyone, even the communists who are trying to give him a crash course in dialectical materialism.

Generally, when the inner workings of Hollywood are shown on screen, for example in A Star Is Born and The Bad and The Beautiful, the studio system is depicted as a hotbed of viciousness, egotism and backstabbing. In Hail, Caesar! Tinseltown is a magical, Trumpton-like world from which unhappiness seems to have been banished and the sun is always shining.

Everyone is cheerful. Even the super-bitchy gossip columnists Thora and Thessaly Thacker (both played by Tilda Swinton) aren’t that vicious really. And one of the delights of the film is its collection of comic cameo performances.

Scarlett Johansson plays an Esther Williams-like aquatic movie star DeeAnna Moran, who looks like a goddess when she is performing as a mermaid underwater but is very down-to-earth and foul-mouthed when she’s not on camera. She takes a thoroughly upbeat approach to problems that threaten to sink her career.

Ralph Fiennes, meanwhile, shows heroic patience as Laurence Laurentz, a camp and demanding director who has been assigned Hobie Doyle, a singing cowboy (Alden Ehrenreich) to star in this latest drawing-room melodrama.

The film enables the Coens and their brilliant cinematographer Roger Deakins to pastiche every kind of genre from the classical studio era. There’s a Gene Kelly-like dance sequence involving a lot of randy sailors in a bar (led by Channing Tatum). We see scenes from Hobie’s western Lazy Ol’ Moon and of slaves and Romans beneath the crucifix in Hail, Caesar! itself. We’re taken into the cutting room where a chain-smoking editor (Frances McDormand) lets her scarf get too close to her equipment.

The Coens aren’t just parodying Hollywood in the last spasms of its golden age. They’re paying tribute to it too. They are imagining the studio system as they might have liked it to have been – as a true dream factory. LA here is an altogether more benign place than the city encountered by John Turturro’s paranoid screenwriter in Barton Fink (1991). Hail, Caesar! isn’t the most profound film the brothers have ever made but it is certainly one of the most pleasurable to watch.

Hail, Caesar! gets its UK premiere at Glasgow Film Festival on 17 February.

‘Weird Al’ Yankovic To Star in Disney XD’s ‘Milo Murphy’s Law’

Josh Brolin to star in George Jones biopic from Straight Outta Compton writer

"He Stopped Loving Her Today" singer's troubled story to be told on the big screen

During an appearance on Conan this week, Josh Brolin revealed that he’s signed on to star as legendary country singer George Jones in a new biopic (via Rolling Stone). He also said his co-star is none other than Jessica Chastain (Interstellar, The Help), who’s taking on the role of Jones’ ex-wife and partner, Tammy Wynette.

The film takes its working title, No Show Jones, from the Possum’s tendency to miss shows due to his addiction to alcohol and cocaine. In fact, Brolin joked that his own history with substance abuse is what made the studio interested in him for the part.

“I have a bit of a past,” said Brolin, referring to a New Year’s Day 2013 arrest for public intoxication. “When they were trying to figure out who might be best able to best play George Jones, they thought, ‘What about Brolin? Who’s been to jail in the last 10 years? Let’s pick Brolin!'”

Jones actually began working on the film himself seven years ago prior to his death in 2013. His fourth wife and widow, Nancy Jones, has been shepherding the script forward ever since and will serve as executive producer. In November of 2014, she helped bring on screenwriter Alan Wenkus, who received an Oscar nomination this year for his work on the Straight Outta Compton script.

“He loved it, and he loves George,” Nancy Jones told Rolling Stone Country last May about hiring Wenkus. “We brought him to town, absolutely loved him, and we’ve been working together since November. He understands what I’m wanting. I don’t want any lies — I want it exactly the way George started the [script] when he started it six years ago.”

There’s no word yet on when the film will head before a lens or hit theaters, but since we’ve been waiting for this one for almost three years, we can continue to be patient.

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KATHERINE FOMINYKH FEBRUARY 6TH, 2016 - 5:48 PM

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The voice of a cartoon-watching generation has died.

Joe Alaskey, who has been credited with providing the sound for Looney Tunes’s Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and then some passed away Wednesday after a short battle with cancer, according to his family.

The New York native had a passion for acting his entire life, though he did not start professionally until a move to Manhattan in the 1970s. His first onscreen appearances included roles in ‘80s TV series such as Galtar and the Golden Lance, Night Court, and Head of the Class.

From there, Alaskey made his break into the cinema world in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) in which he played the red-bearded Yosemite Sam, snagging him that role for Looney Tunes for the unfurling decades. He also took over revered voice actor Mel Blanc’s role, Foghorn Leghorn, when Blanc’s illness that would soon take his life overwhelmed him.

Following the premiere of the film and Blanc’s passing, the beloved roles of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck became inheritance to Alaskey. He also appeared in multitudes of other Looney Tunes shows, voicing Wile E. Coyote and the Tasmanian Devil. Later down the road, as his resume of cartoon characters blossomed, Alaskey filled in for the available roles of Tweety, as well as Tweety’s nemesis Sylvester the cat, Pepe le Pew, and Marvin the Martian.

In 1990, Alaskey’s impressioned voice had become rooted so deeply across the Looney Tunes spectrum that he was awarded an original character of his own–Plucky Duck, a young mentee to Daffy. The creation spiraled into nearly one hundred episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures, several movies, and a spin-off show for Alaskey to star, The Plucky Duck Show (1992).

Then, Alaskey landed one of his arguably most significant roles–voicing Daffy Duck in the action cartoon Duck Dodgers, which immortalized Alaskey’s position as the voice for Daffy as well as earned him an Emmy in 2004.

Joe Alaskey’s talents were not restrained to Warner Bros. cartoons either. His voice is also attributed to Ghost Trio member Stinkie in Casper (1995), as well as Grandpa Lou Pickle in Rugrats, several accompanying films, and the spin-off show All Grown Up! after the original voice, David Doyle, passed.

Joe Alaskey’s voice mattered to the childhoods of millions of Americans, and that voice crossed generations, dozens of remakes, spinoffs, and over franchises. Recently he played Droopy the cynical dog in Tom and Jerrycartoons. The decorated voice actor has also provided the sounds for the elderly superhero Mermaid Man in the 2005 video game Spongebob Squarepants: Lights, Camera, Pants!, based on the popular children’s show.

His friend, television writer Mark Evanier, posted a moving tribute to the honored voice actor on his blog:

“…Joe had so many different voices that it was sometimes difficult to choose which one we wanted out of him. The one I liked best was when he sounded like Joe Alaskey. He had a long, long list of voices but that’s the one I will miss the most.”

TINASHE, HALSEY, LION BABE AND DEJ LOAF FRONT MAC COSMETICS' FUTURE FORWARD CAMPAIGN (EXCLUSIVE)

9:00 AM 2/5/2016

by Brooke Mazurek

Courtesy of MAC

MAC Cosmetics and boundary-pushing pop ingenues have always gone together like two peas in a collaborative pod. There was Lady Gaga’s 2011 Viva Glam campaign, Mariah Carey’s champagne-hued lipstick this past December, Nicki Minaj’s hot pink lip glass, Lorde’s Pure Heroine gothic plum lipstick, Rihanna’s topless campaign and Miley Cyrus’ tongue-flashing Viva Glam campaign video, to name a few. But the makeup brand, which launched in 1984 at a Toronto department store and was acquired by Estee Lauder in 1994, is about to shine the spotlight on a different sector of the music industry.

On March 17, MAC will launch Future Forward, the first of an ongoing series of collaborations and campaigns that spotlight newer talent. "It feels like a great thing to be able to support artists who are breaking through but aren’t necessarily at the top top, to push them forward," MAC senior vp and group creative director James Gager says of the initiative. "We’ve always done that sort of thing with fashion designers, and to me, it’s most interesting to introduce these artists, as well as our MAC fans to new people."

For the debut capsule, Gager worked with artists Tinashe, Dej Loaf, Lion Babe's Jillian Hervey and Halsey — most of whom landed on the Billboard charts for the first time last year. "They were each very distinctive personalities. They run the gamut, but obviously they're hitting different people in terms of who listens to their music," he notes. "Plus you've got someone that has blue hair."

The product rollout will occur first with Tinashe’s "Times Nine Palette" of eyeshadow, followed by Halsey’s matte gunmetal lipstick, Dej Loaf’s rosy-nude lip glass, and Lion Babe’s shimmery gold Liquidlast Liner with prices ranging from $15 to $32. The first-time opportunity to collaborate with a major brand, Dej Loaf notes, was "a big first step" and entryway into a new creative medium.

Gager, who joined MAC in 1999 and has been instrumental in helping the brand raise more than $400 million for AIDS research through the MAC AIDS Fund, speaks with Billboardabout the launch.

In speaking with each of the artists you worked with for Future Forward, it was really refreshing to hear how important this partnership was for them — that it was the first time they had ever been approached to collaborate.

I think it shows a breadth of what MAC is about and what we're bringing out as ideas. It was interesting for me, actually, having worked with each of them because when they came into the office they each had unique personalities: one of them was very shy, another very outspoken.

And why the decision to make Future Forward a collective with four faces rather than say, one or two?

I think it really indicates that there's not always just one person. With groups of people, as I mentioned, we are able to hit different fan bases.

How did you select each of these artists?

We like people who have something unique about their style. We feel that each one of these young ladies has a unique music sensibility, but also that they are representing their look with a distinct point of view. When each of them came in, we didn't say "Oh, you're going to do a lipstick, you're going to do an eyeshadow." We asked them what they felt connected to, product-wise. Each person was very involved, right down to naming the product shades and thinking about packaging. We also worked on videos for each of them that will offer a more in-depth understanding of them as an artist.

Why does the music industry make sense for MAC?

We love music. MAC is steeped in many different areas from music to fashion to film to interior design to illustration. And we want to keep tapping into different forms of creativity and bringing those forms out to speak. If you think of some of our first-ever Viva Glam spokespeople, there was Mary J. Blige, Lil Kim. We've done stuff with Iggy Azalea, Nicki Minaj; we now have Ariana [Grande].

Does sound ever inspire color for you?

I can be influenced by smell — a color for me smells a certain way. A smell might represent a color for me and actually, even with our holiday collections out now, it's all about blue tones, which were influenced by the world of jazz and what jazz suggests as a color. For me, jazz never represents hot colors; it represents coolness.

And you have plans to continue Future Forward annually?

Oh absolutely, this is not a stand-alone idea. We are going to keep it going in a way where it might not always be four artists — it could be two or even one — but I think each year it is going to be really interesting to say, "OK, these are the ones to watch."

Does that feel risky for MAC, to be turning to lesser-known artists?

Of course. You don't know what's going to happen to their career. But I think we're also a brand of pop culture and what's going on at the moment, so the risk is lessened when you hit it on the mark at a particular time.

See more Rihanna's Boldest Beauty Moments Through the Years

Halsey is an example of someone who has really blown up over the last year — she sold out Madison Square Garden.

Oh yeah, she’s already going bigtime. When we had Iggy Azalea perform at the opening of our store in Paris in 2012, she was also someone that was big but not huge, so it was interesting to see that transition then. It was also kind of like that when we signed Lady Gaga on as a Viva Glam spokesperson. She wasn't big big big at that moment. She was kind of just beginning to break and then suddenly: wow! We got her exactly at the most fortuitous moment.

Seems like you guys have an algorithm.

Well, let's not jinx it. (Laughs.) A lot of it is luck for sure, but a lot of it is kind of paying attention to what's going on.

Are there any artists you’ve been listening to in particular?

I love Justin Bieber's new album. I'm so happy that maybe he's turning a page, that he's learned a bit of a lesson, and I think it's influenced his music in a really great way. I like that he's growing up, approaching things with respect makes you pay attention to him in a different way.

You’re the senior vice president and group creative director for MAC, La Mer and Jo Malone. And MAC in particular, has an immense amount of campaigns and campaign videos that are released each year. How do you have time to make it all work?

I'm a bit of a control freak. (Laughs.) I care about the brand deeply and so I feel responsible for each project that I work on and I want it to be the best that it can be. I love working with my team here, we are really driven to make things the absolute best so that we feel proud. In some way it's work, but it's work that I love and it's work that I feel privileged to be able to do.

• Tinashe

  

  Courtesy of MAC Cosmetics

  "I like to be able to create something out of nothing, to experiment and not just be stuck in one box," alt-R&B artist Tinashe says. To date, the 22-year-old has experimented with dancing (studying ballet, tap and jazz at age 4), acting (appearing in Two and a Half Men), modeling and music ("2 On" from her 2014 debut studio album Aquarius hit No. 5 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart). But on March 17, her role in MAC’s Future Forward campaign — a partnership in which the brand spotlights and collaborates with four younger artists who are making waves in the music industry — represents "an opportunity to spread my wings even more," she says.

  In an old warehouse at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, as the sun set and the MAC team prepped for her campaign video shoot, the singer-songwriter, who will embark on a world tour this month, spoke withBillboard about her eyeshadow palette ($32;maccosmetics.com), her plans for the coming year and what it was like touring with Katy Perry.

  

  Have you collaborated with other brands in the past?

  I have but I’ve never been able to take a real creative kind of position, and that was really what drew me to this. I mean obviously I love makeup too, and I use it all the time for shows, but I was really intrigued by the chance to bring my creative vision to this. I got to design the packaging, pick out the colors and create something that I felt like I would use. It’s shades that range between dark black to an army green, and then some burgundies. I’m definitely more of an eye girl than a lip girl.

  Do you remember the first time that you experimented with makeup?

  I remember being around 8 years old and doing my cousin’s makeup — painting it blue and green. I thought that was so much fun (Laughs.)

  2015 was such a major year for you. What was it like opening for Katy Perry?

  That was incredible. I mean, I’ve never been to South America, so I got to go to seven different countries in South America with Katy. The crowds were insane!

  Do you ever get nervous?

  I don’t really get nervous, no. It’s really exciting and the fans are really accepting, and they’re pumped up, so I get excited more than nervous. But yeah I think that was a huge highlight. I think touring with NickiMinaj was also a really big highlight. I think releasing my "All Hands on Deck" music video was a dope part of this year.

  Is it hard for you to create music when you’re on the road?

  Yeah. I think your energy — especially with such a high-energy stage show, which is what I try to bring to the table — it’s hard to be able to put energy into both because being creative takes a lot of energy as well. I kind of have been doing one or the other. I’m still kind of working on trying to be able to do both, but there’s no time or energy.

  Is there any shade of makeup or type of makeup you’d never put on?

  I don’t think so; I’m pretty open-minded. So I’d pretty much try, especially at this age I feel like I would try anything, I’m not old yet, I can do whatever I want. You can just go for it, that’s the fun part.

  What are your goals for the coming year? Who are people you’d like to work with this next year?

  Well I want to put out my second album, calledJoyride, and go on another U.S. tour. My own tour, which is exciting. Other than that? I’m just excited to continue to grow and dominate the world piece by piece.

  You performed at Alexander Wang's show in September. Are there designers you’d like to work with?

  Yeah, I mean, I obviously have started cultivating relationships with some of my favorites, such as Alex Wang and Jeremy Scott. I would love to work with them more in the future. I really want to work with Andre 3000. I think that would be amazing.

  

• Halsey

  

  Courtesy of MAC Cosmetics

  With her blue hair, rebellious spirit and self-described "angry female" full-length album Badlands, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in September — Halsey (born Ashley Frangipane) quickly became one of 2015’s most polarizing new artists. She went on to support Imagine Dragons on the North American leg of their Smoke and Mirrors Tour, collaborate with Justin Bieber on “The Feeling," and 2016 doesn’t see her slowing down at all. In addition to selling out Madison Square Garden, Halsey debuts her first-ever product collaboration with MAC Cosmetics on March 31 as part of the brand’s new Future Forward initiative.

  The New Jersey-born, L.A.-based chanteuse is one of four artists selected for the first of what will be an ongoing series with the cosmetic company. "I was excited to create something that was unique to me," she says of working with creative director JamesGager on a matte gray lipstick with blue undertones ($17; maccosmetics.com). "Something the fans would see as a representation of me if I were a makeup product."

  Below, Halsey speaks about her work with MAC and her ever-shifting relationship with makeup.

  

  What about these products specifically channels or speaks to you?

  Specifically, this lipstick is pretty akin to what it means to be Halsey. It's pretty unique, and I'm known for changing my hair and style all the time. Not being trapped in one predictable look. I'm like a chameleon. I never look the same.

  It’s really cool to me because it's a cooler blue tone, which is my creative color. I use blue lights onstage and had blue hair for a long time. Blue stimulates me. I wanted to do something different that I hadn't seen before, and I realized I was wearing a lot of cooler-toned colors and a lot of pinks and browns. I thought, "How great would it be to do something that was a bit more dramatic and more risky?"

  One thing I try to do with my look is not have the look wear me. I try to carry myself like there's nothing too crazy for me to wear as long as I carry myself with the confidence to wear it. I hope people can feel the same way about the lipstick.

  What's your typical offstage makeup regimen like? What's your onstage regimen?

  Offstage I don't really wear a lot of makeup. I like a strong eyebrow and I like a bold lip. I don't wear a lot of eye makeup and I have a lot of freckles, so those are always all over my face. I like to look fresh-faced and energetic. I’m often on tour so I'm really tired. The makeup helps make me look as though I'm getting more sleep than I really am. As far as onstage, I tend to do a bold lip, something a little bit more dramatic and kind of carve out my face. I have very defined facial qualities and I like to play them up to look like a very strong character.

  What role does makeup play, if any, in your idea of what artistry is?

  It definitely plays a role, it can let me play around with different characters and different people. I can look perhaps a bit more vulnerable and approachable depending on how I style my face. I have really androgynous features so makeup is fun for me because I get to play around with that gender barrier between having a look that's a bit more masculine and a look that's a bit more feminine.

  Do you remember the first time you ever wore makeup? How has your approach to applying makeup changed over the years?

  The first time I ever wore makeup was definitely during a time that I was not allowed to. I have distinct memories of going through my mom’s makeup drawer and digging up MAC lipsticks. Her favorite one was a lipstick called Shitake, like the mushroom. And it was a dark, dark, dark brown and completely inappropriate for a small child to be wearing, but it's what my mom had. Given the trends of the '90s my mom was super grunge and really cool. She always wore flannel shirts and Doc Martens and a really dark lipstick. I remember being in love with how she looked. She was very boyish, rockstar and relaxed. I think that has had a huge impact on how I wear makeup and fashion today. I think my approach to makeup has definitely changed over the years. I’ve started wearing less, and I’m learning how to use makeup as a tool to enhance features that I have instead of trying to change my face into something that it's not. I've also gotten much lazier!

  Why, as an artist, are collaborations like these important for you?

  Collaborations like this one show that artistry spans a variety of mediums. Music and makeup, fashion and writing and anything from a creative perspective is all interconnected in some way. For someone like me who writes about the human condition and considers herself a writer about people, working with a company like MAC lets me take my creative mentality and give people the opportunity to wear it. I hope that it inspires people to be more confident and take more risks — wear something that's a little less day-to-day and a little more adventurous.

  

• Dej Loaf

  

  Courtesy of MAC Cosmetics

  2015 was a year of firsts for Dej Loaf. The Detroit rapper (nee Deja Trimble), who first gained notoriety in 2014 when the lyrics to her track, "Try Me," were quoted on one of Drake’s Instagrams, released her first major label album ...And See That’s The Thing(Columbia), toured for the first time (in support of NickiMinaj, no less) and was tapped by a brand to collaborate on a product — a nude and peachy lip glass for MAC Cosmetics ($15; maccosmetics.com) — that will hit stores on April 14.

  After 7 a.m. wakeup call for a supporting campaign video that was shot on a windy fall day near New York’s Hudson River, a varsity jacket and converse-clad Dej spoke with Billboard about the launch and how music has changed her approach to makeup.

  

  You have incredible gold eye makeup on right now, do you normally do a full eye makeup every day?

  No not every day. Onstage for me is dramatic, you know, got the glitter. It’s crazy because I used to — I was anti-makeup just recently fell in love with it. I don’t want to perform without it anymore now I’m like, "Yo, let’s get some makeup on." I like to travel with a makeup artist now.

  Being someone, as you said, that was "anti-makeup," but now enjoys it — why do you see importance in it for you as an artist?

  It enhances beauty, you know what I’m saying? I wouldn’t say I was “anti,” I just didn’t understand why girls wear makeup all the time. Now I get it, I understand how it enhances beauty — how it makes me feel myself, a little more than I already was.

  So what drew you to the gold eye makeup you’re wearing now that they did for the video shoot?

  The makeup artist had done a dark eye and I was like, "Nah let’s try some yellow." She hooked it up the way I wanted it. I’ve been trying to get yellow for the longest time, my makeup artist doesn’t have yellow glitter yet.

  Is this your first time collaborating with the brand?

  Definitely, this is my first time.

  That’s exciting.

  Very. I was just thinking about that I was excited to come here and do all this stuff this week.

  It’s exciting because music was just a stepping stone for me, I want to get into other things outside of music, creative things. MAC, makeup, movies — for me, this first step is a big first step.

  And you got to spend time on the road with Nicki touring. What was that like?

  It was an experience every day. It was my first tour — that was another first step, you know what I’m saying? I’m blessed. It was my first time going out on tour, the whole experience with the bus and the people and the bad stuff happening and the good stuff happening it’s like oh this is tour life you know, we got to really experience the bus breaking down. Stuff like that, so it was dope though I got to meet a lot of different people.

  When did you really start wearing makeup?

  Definitely in the last year. I had just been doing stuff, you know, shoots, and you know, you get makeup artists, and I’d just always kind of be like, I just want a little, don’t do too much! And that’s how it started, with just a little bit. And I had friends that did makeup and they tried some stuff and it was like "Oh OK," and you just slowly but surely start to fall in love with it. Like don’t knock it till you try it type of vibe. Yeah that’s pretty much this last year I fell in love with it, and I have my own makeup artist.

  Is there some makeup that you would like never wear? Like, blue lipstick, or something that you see and you’re like, that’s just not me?

  You know what, I don’t look good in red lipstick. So not red — red is not for me. But I’m still open, I’m still learning a lot of stuff about it, so I’m open to different things. Right now, we’re just here with the glitter.

  

• Lion Babe's Jillian Hervey

  

  Courtesy of MAC Cosmetics

  Jillian Hervey is one-half of experimental soul duoLion Babe, which takes its name from — you guessed it! — her incredible mane. But for her MAC Future Forward campaign, the focus was on Hervey’s eyes — for which she collaborated on a golden LiquidlastLiner ($21) that will hit stores on April 28.

  "I think as I’ve grown, the one thing that’s always been consistent is my love of eyeliner," says Hervey, who also happens to be actress-singer Vanessa Williams’ daughter. "I love to accentuate the eyes, and if you’re on the go or want to do something dramatic, it's such a simple fix."

  2016 will see Hervey and music partner Lucas Goodman release their debut full-length album, Begin, a project that reportedly involved work with an all-star team that includes Pharrell Williams, Jeff Bhasker and Andrew Wyatt. After shooting her MAC campaign video on Coney Island, Hervey hopped on the phone to dish on everything that’s in the works.

  

  So tell us about this gold liner. How did the idea for this specific product come about?

  It’s really the very first thought that I had. Obviously there are a ton of black liners in the world, so I thought it would be really interesting to go with a different color base, and I’ve always felt very strongly about the color gold. I love what the color represents, and it’s definitely similar to my skin tone. I also loved that you can make a very clean line with this product, but that you can also use it as a body bronzer if you wanted to. For me, I feel like it’s pretty key to have a product — whether it’s a lip stain you can use on your cheeks — to have something that you can use in more than one way.

  Did you work with MAC directly? Walk me through the process.

  The good thing about MAC is — and a reason I was so excited — was that they were very much about having the artist really implement their ideas and create a vision. So from day one I was sketching some ideas in my notebook. Lion Babe’s logo is actually my handwriting, which has manifested into a neon sign we use for our shows, so that logo is on the box. They were super supportive, took my ideas and combined them with the brand.

  Is this your first time collaborating with a brand?

  Yeah! It’s definitely my first time doing anything like this really. I’ve pretty much been focusing primarily on just the art and creating the singing, music, all that stuff. And this is such an exciting opportunity for me; everyone knows MAC and this was a really good way to get our name out there.

  What was the video shoot at Coney Island like?

  Even though I live in New York, I'd never been to Coney Island! When I heard that it’s what they were thinking about for the location, I was just like, "Oh my gosh, this is so much fun." A lot of the shoot involved me just getting to take in the sights, see the roller coasters and graffiti art — a lot of candid moments on a beautiful day.

  

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KAREN VEAZEY FEBRUARY 4TH, 2016 - 11:42 PM

Buy products for shows on this topic at | Amazon

The success of Fox’s Grease: Live – and by success I mean “not a complete failure” – has to encourage Fox in their plans for another live musical scheduled for next month. The Passion will portray the last hours of the life of Christ and is scheduled to air on Palm Sunday, March 20.

The narrative of the passion, depicting the events leading up to and through Christ’s crucifixion, has been portrayed dozens of times on film and TV. This version is based off a 2006 BBC production that is more pop-culture than pious, and was written by Peter Barsocchini, the writer behind the High School Musical series.

Tyler Perry will head the show as a narrator and the cast includes Jencarlos Canela as Jesus Christ, Trisha Yearwood as Mary, singer Prince Royce as Peter, and Chris Daughtry as Judas. Today it was announced that Seal has signed on for the role of Pontius Pilate. Carlos’ career has taken off in Spanish language roles, most recently in the Eva Longoria comedy Telenovela.

Staging will be unique among live musical broadcasts, which are generally set in one theater on one stage. Though details are being closely guarded, the rumor is that this one will be staged at several well-known landmarks around New Orleans, and include one scene with a crowd carrying a 20-foot cross.

JANELLE MONÁE DANCES THROUGH TIME IN NEW PEPSI SUPER BOWL COMMERCIAL

Posted on February 4th, 2016 by ThisIsRnB in NEWS |

For the 50th anniversary of the Super Bowl, Pepsi is paying homage to music greats past and present in their Super Bowl 50 TV commercial, “The Joy of Dance,” starring the amazing Janelle Monáe.

In the clip, the singer dances her way through 50 years of Pepsi history, from a rocking diner to a bumping dance club.

The TV spot also follows the journey and “passing of the mic” to Janelle as she puts her own twist on the famous Pepsi “Joy of Cola” jingle.

Please Enjoy This Photo of Kate Winslet Touching Susan Sarandon’s Boob

February 1, 2016 2:03 pm By Allyson Shiffman

The glorious creature that is Susan Sarandon slayed at the SAG awards in a killer white suit that totally gave us Michelle Pfeiffer in Scarface vibes. Sure, the pants were a little ill-fitting and the shoes were a peculiar choice, but it’s unlikely anyone noticed because they were all too busy getting lost in her cleavage. Just ask Kate Winslet, captured here in what will likely be the best thing you see today:

Meanwhile, Michael Shannon deserves to take home a trophy for his convincing portrayal of someone completely unaware of the awesomeness going on around him.

Prince ‘in talks’ to perform at the 2016 Isle Of Wight Festival

Caroline Westbrook for Metro.co.uk

Saturday 6 Feb 2016 1:11 pm

Could Prince take to the Isle of Wight stage? (Picture: Getty Images)

The Isle of Wight Festival could be about to get a little bit purple following the news that Prince is ‘in talks’ to perform at the event.

According to reports the Purple Rain hitmaker is considering an appearance at the festival following a recent discussion with organiser John Giddings – who said he would welcome him to the Isle Of Wight stage.

‘It’s very hard to know who Prince’s representative is. He’s a bit elusive,’ Giddings explained to Loaded magazine.

‘But he’s very ahead of the game and one of the most talented musicians the world has turned out. He’s welcome to come any day of the week.’

The singer is reportedly keen to perform a Jimi Hendrix tribute at the festival (Picture: Getty Images)

And it might not be too hard to persuade Prince to appear at the annual extravaganza in June, since he’s told Giddings before that he wants to perform a tribute to Jimi Hendrix – who famously played the first Isle Of Wight festival in 1970 – in the near future.

‘I’ve suggested this to Prince for a couple of years. He has seemed quite excited by the idea. I’d love it to happen this year.’

If the singer does commit he’ll be joining a line-up which already includes Queen and Adam Lambert, Iggy Pop, Adam Ant, Everything Everything, Feeder, Faithless and Jess Glynne.

The festival will take place at Seaclose Park in Newport between June 9 and June 12.

Reps for the Isle Of Wight Festival had no further comment to make, while reps for Prince have been contacted.

New super bowl trailer.

Wonder Girls at Nine: The Ups and Downs of K-Pop’s Enduring Girl Group

Jason Merritt, Getty Images

Five years before “Gangnam Style” covers plagued the internet, Korea caught a severe case of the “Tell Me Virus.” Symptoms included shoulder swaying, exclaiming “Omona!” in surprise while covering one’s mouth, and handsy choreography. The cure was unknown, and everyone from regular folk to celebrities to police officers to even fans in France succumbed to the hysteria, uploading videos of themselves dancing to the Wonder Girls’ single to YouTube and Korean portal Daum.

The South Korean quintet’s song was an immediate hit, and they soon cemented their position as top girl group with the 2008 follow-ups “So Hot” and “Nobody,” which sparked more dance crazes and performed phenomenally on the charts. Wonder Girls were crowned queens of the second generation of K-pop idols and were the first K-pop act to hold a U.S. tour. No one could touch them.

Fans who got into K-pop after 2012, however – when PSY catapulted Hallyu (Korean Wave) onto the world stage – would chiefly know them as a bygone group. By this time, the Wonder Girls were on hiatus after their much-awaited American debut failed to take off and group leader Sunye got married. As a result, groups like Girls’ Generation and 2NE1, who debuted after them, turned into household names and served as the most representative and popular female K-pop acts around the world. Moreover, male group Big Bang held arena concerts in New York and L.A., and Crayon Pop served as Lady Gaga’s opening act two years later. But none of that would’ve been possible without the Wonder Girls, and what they’ve built over their 9-year-long career.

A new K-pop group springs up every day, but none have come close to recreating the Wonder Girls’ signature retro sound and concept, which borrows from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, beginning with the aforementioned “Tell Me.” Though they debuted on February 8, 2007 with “Irony,” it was only after losing rapper Hyuna (now in the group 4minute), gaining member Yubin, and releasing “Tell Me” by that fall that they got popular. The track sampled 80’s staple “Two of Hearts” by Stacey Q, adding a tablespoon of 90’s bubblegum pop sugariness. The catchy English chorus, asking the boy they’re fixated on to tell them that he likes them, is an earworm that will stay longer than Spice Girls’ “Wannabe.”

Given Yubin’s sudden inclusion, the original version of “Tell Me” didn’t feature her rap verses, making “So Hot” her first Wonder Girls single. “So Hot” followed a similar 80’s-influenced formula, but featured a sultrier sound that allowed the girls sexier choreography. And just how hot were the Wonder Girls? “So Hot” became an instant K-pop classic.

But when it comes to breaking Hallyu around the globe, the OG is “Nobody.” After the song became the crown’s third jewel, English, Mandarin, and Japanese versions of the 2008 single followed. On “Nobody,” the Wonder Girls traveled back to the 1960s to channel their inner Motown girl groups concept-wise, while the sound stayed back in the future where rap exists. With big, coiffed hair and glitzy dresses, the Wonder Girls played Dream Girls-like backup singers to the star’s story. “Nobody” followed the catchy “Tell Me” formula, in that it repeated English phrases over and over in the chorus and came with easy-to-follow choreography.

In late 2009, the song’s English version made history by charting at No. 76 on the Billboard Hot 100, making them the first South Korean group to do so. This was, in part, thanks to the Wonder Girls’ other first: opening for The Jonas Brothers’ summer U.S. tour when the Disney boy band was at the height of popularity. And what made entering the chart especially momentous was the fact that they remained true to their signature style, and didn’t change it to appeal to accommodate American audiences. Their own U.S. 20-stop tour followed in 2010.

This is where things changed for the Wonder Girls. Hot off their trifecta of hits, the Wonder Girls moved to New York to pursue a career in the States, neglecting their throne back home. Given that 2009 was a pivotal year in K-pop, this move proved detrimental. Rivals Girls’ Generation released their own viral hit, “Gee,” and followed suit with equally-successful singles while KARA had everyone shaking their butts to “Mister.” Groups like 2NE1, T-ara and 4Minute debuted and gained traction quickly. The competition turned fierce. And not only were the Wonder Girls off in America, member Sunmi then left the group to pursuit her academic studies.

It wasn’t until May 2010 that the Wonder Girls would briefly return to Korea to promote their followup 2 Different Tears EP with new member Hyerim, a release that included both Chinese and English versions. The group took on a disco and ‘80s electro hybrid this time around, while the concept was a mashup of ‘60s mod and the big-haired ‘80s and they played out an Austin Powers-meets-Charlie’s Angels spy story. After one month of promotions in Korea and a short period at No. 1 in the South Korean charts, the girls went back to the U.S. to finish off their tour. “2 Different Tears” failed to chart in the U.S.

After continual delays of their promised American full-length, the Wonder Girls returned to Korea in 2011 and released their second album Wonder World, with “Be My Baby” as the single. This time around, the girls showcased a chic look and their sound was rooted in 90’s pop electronica. They recruited Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” backup dancer Jonte’ Moaning as the video’s choreographer, which is probably why it looks a lot like Queen B’s anthem.

Prior to “Be My Baby,” the Wonder Girls’ songs were fun and youthful. But after two years abroad and with Yubin, Yeeun, and Sunye in their early 20s, the girls came back with a more glamorous and mature concept. Even with the disco influences, “2 Different Tears” sounds like “Nobody.” “Be My Baby,” however, was completely different from anything they’d done before. Wonder World is a pretty solid album, and was penned almost entirely by the members. And while “Be My Baby” wasn’t written by the group, this marks the point where the Wonder Girls transcended from being idols to artists.

Everything the Wonder Girls had worked toward since “Nobody” crashed in 2012. In June, the girls released “Like This,” a breath of fresh air and, once again, very unlike the group. The song was devoid of a whimsical concept, instead featuring the girls in everyday ensembles. “Like This” is bouncy, clap-laden, up-tempo fun that makes you want to dance with influences from the early 2000’s pop/hip-hop scene.

But things hit rock bottom in July of that year, when the highly anticipated (seriously, it was three years in the making) American debut song “Like Money,” featuring Akon, dropped. And. It. Sucked. That thing they were so proud of in 2009 — making it in America while staying true to themselves — went out the window, and they released a song that sounded like everything else on the radio at the time. It wasn’t so much that the synth pop song and their outer space robot concept were bad. It just didn’t stand out enough to make a mark.

By November, Sunye went on hiatus from Wonder Girls in order to get married, only to permanently withdraw from the group in December 2014. In 2013, Sohee left the group to pursuit an acting career. Only Yeeun, Yubin, and Hyerim remained, so Wonder Girls took a break.

Speculation that the Wonder Girls were done for, even as their company disputed the allegations, ran amok. But like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the Wonder Girls’ 2015 comeback rocked our worlds just as much as their first hit – quite literally. Even if their instruments were merely props, the Wonder Girls returned from their two-year hiatus as a band. Yubin moved drumsticks around, Yeeun swayed while holding a keytar, Hyerim danced with a guitar in hand, and – get this – former member Sunmi rejoined the group on bass.

In 2015, while everyone in K-pop was drawing inspiration from the ‘90s and trap music, the Wonder Girls went back to their roots: the 1980’s. Reboot draws from nearly every genre popular in said decade, from old school hip-hop to synth rock to sultry electro pop. It was a commercial and critical success, charting at No. 2 on the Billboard U.S. World Albums. The single, “I Feel You” is a breathy, twinkly synth rock song that exudes sensuality and was completely worth the wait. Once again, the members wrote every song except for the single.

Reboot, indeed, gave the Wonder Girls the restart they needed. They practically came back from the dead last year and triumphed without relying on nostalgia, managing to stand out in a time when K-pop competition is vicious. Moreover, the typical shelf life of a K-pop act is about five years — so nine years in the industry is an accomplishment in itself. And even if their girl group crown has long been snatched by others, they’re still very much K-pop legends. With several member changes, leaving Korea for the U.S. for months on end and a hiatus that’s all but eternal in K-pop time, the Wonder Girls have stood the test of time by always releasing high-quality and innovative music and concepts. Add the rest of their accomplishments, and it pretty much solidifies the Wonder Girls’ status as worldwide pop icons we’re not ready to let go of.

EPIC Oscars class photo of 2016

How many stars can you spot?

BY ADAM SILVERSTEIN

11 HOURS AGO

It's that time of the year when everyone nominated for theOscars comes together for a glitzy luncheon, and this year's 'class photo' is as epic as you'd expect.

The likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio and Lady Gaga all attended the event at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Monday (February 8).

© AMPAS

Nominated actresses Brie Larson, Charlotte Rampling, Rachel McAdams, Saoirse Ronan, Alicia Vikander, Rooney Mara and Jennifer Jason Leigh all posed for the photo.

Eddie Redmayne, Mark Ruffalo, Bryan Cranston and Sylvester Stallone were among the nominated actors who were there, alongside directors George Miller, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott and Alejandro G Iñárritu.

A chuffed-looking Sam Smith and The Weeknd

-

both nominated for their music - also stood alongside the nominees.

This year's ceremony has had a lot of criticism thrown at it for not including any actors or actresses of colour in its nominations.

The Academy has since vowed to double its female and diverse members by the year 2020.

Chris Rock has even rewritten his opening monologue following the #OscarsSoWhite controversy.

The awards take place on February 28 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

Anti

• Anti
• Rihanna
• Roc Nation

BY BRITTANY SPANOS February 1, 2016

Christopher Polk/Getty

Sex, drugs, freedom: Rihanna makes her first great album-length statement

For much of 2015, repeated delays and a lack of solid information started to make Rihanna's Anti feel like pop's mythical creature. Now that we know it's real, we can hear the singer's eighth LP for what it is: a sprawling masterpiece of psychedelic soul that's far more straightforward than its tangled rollout. The three full years since 2012's Unapologetic – the longest break between releases in Rihanna's career – turned out to be exactly what she needed to make a rich full-length statement. After more than a decade as a superstar of the singles chart, Rihanna has become an album artist.

Anti is first and foremost an experience built on vibes. Where previous LPs were built around clear peaks, here the songs fit together into a fluid landscape of seamless transitions – check the flow on the excellent mid-album run of after-hours joints from "Desperado" to "Woo" to "Needed Me." Every song sounds like our collective fantasy of Rihanna: a carefree island girl lounging in a cloud of smoke, asserting a brand of independence that's wholly her own. On "James Joint," she assures us that she'd "rather be/Smoking weed/Whenever we breathe/Every time you kiss me" in her most dulcet tones. "You been rollin' around/Shit, I'm rollin' up," she asserts on the biting kiss-off track "Needed Me." Clearly, the stoned party goddess we've seen on Instagram and Snapchat is pretty close to the real Rihanna.

Anti's beats are more muted than the flashier productions of her past work, which leaves room for the album's biggest revelation: Rihanna's show-stopping vocal performances. One year ago, on one-off single "FourFiveSeconds," she belted in a raw, raspy tone that expressed levels of soul the previous decade of her career had only hinted at. Here, she follows through on that promise, singing powerfully and with a deeper emotional density than she's revealed before. On the bluesy late-album highlight "Higher," when she sings "This whiskey got me feelin' pretty" over a dusty strings sample from producer No ID, she could be crooning in a smoky post-war jazz club.

Rihanna serves up a one-two punch of left-field choices in the album's second half, giving doo-wop a modern spin with ease on "Love on the Brain" and ­finding a new hypnotic pull in a Tame Impala song on "Same Ol' Mistakes," Anti's most shocking track. It's a faithful take on Australian psych-pop mastermind Kevin Parker's 2015 tune, but Rihanna's mellow vocals make it worlds more inviting and compelling.

At her core, though, she's still a hitmaker. Single "Work" isn't even her best collaboration with Drake – that would be 2011's expansive house ballad Take Care" – but it's an impeccably catchy glide across a subtle, syrupy dancehall beat. The sexy, deep synth-pop of "Desperado," meanwhile, could easily make it a club hit by summer; and Rih has her Purple Rain moment on the shimmering, funky "Kiss It Better," which serves as the album's most direct pop moment by far.

Ultimately, Anti's sound is more than just another new costume for a singer who's dabbled in everything from flirty teen-pop to aggressive trap over the last decade-plus. This is an album that forces us to question the boxes we've placed Rihanna in all along. Is she queen of the clubs or a break-up balladeer? Are her pop instincts sharper than her hip-hop ones? The answer, as provided here, is all of the above and more. After years as a singer largely defined by her production, it finally feels like Rihanna is in charge of her own sound, remaking pop on her own terms. As she puts it bluntly on the glitchy groove "Consideration," which opens the LP: "I got to do things my own way, darling."

By Andy Daglas

6 hours ago